Colorzilla is a very useful add-on for Firefox and a must for web designers. Earlier I was using Instant Eyedropper for figuring out the color code on any page but this tool goes above and beyond that.

What does Colorzilla do?

Besides giving me the color code for any point in the browser window, it lets me zoom the page I am viewing and measure distances between any two points on the page. The built-in palette browser allows choosing colors from pre-defined color sets and saving the most used colors in custom palettes. DOM spying features allow getting various information about DOM elements quickly and easily.

How does it work?

To activate it, click on the dropper icon in the statusbar and then move around the cursor on the page. As you move along you get the color code of that point, its x and y coordinate and tons of useful information (DOM path etc.). It also highlights the container as you move along on the web

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YouTube has become a store house of knowledge. Besides having fun, one can spend his/her time acquiring multiple skills through numerous  instructional videos.

Photoshop is one tool which is always in demand and the prevalence of web 2.0 graphics has made it all the more useful skill to have.

You can use YouTube to develop/strengthen your Photoshop skills. A post titled  Use YouTube to learn Photoshop has a rich collection of Photoshop tutorials categorized in Photo Effects, Photoshop Basics and Web Design categories.

Digital Inspiration post Keeping Fit with Workout Videos on YouTube has handpicked exercise videos for you from YouTube.

Happy learning.

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DNA Direct is a company providing access to genetic test ordering through the web and phone. They have developed a notion of virtual genetics clinic to facilitate this process.

Genetic tests can tell you if you carry a genetic risk, screen you for disease, or screen you for carrier status. This information will empower an individual enabling him to make better health decisions.

Mosts of the tests can be ordered online  and the test kit arrives in mail. Tests are easy to carry out and you need to send the sample back for analysis. Detailed reports on your tests come up on the web site.

Some of the tests they offer:

• Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
• Blood Clotting Disorders
• Breast & Ovarian Cancer
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Drug Metabolism (CYP2D6 Gene)
• Hemochromatosis
• Infertility
• PreGen-Plus Colon Cancer Screening
• Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
• Tamoxifen

(PBS affiliate aired a segment on Genetics Testing Through The Web)

The process has indeed been made very friendly and should encourage individuals to undergo these tests.

How Genetics and Genetic Testing works?

Source: Here

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I was interested in which tech store out of the famous three (BestBuy, CompUSA and CircuitCity) attracted more online customers and used Alexa to figure that out:

(Click on the image to enlarge)

From the graph it is quite certain that BestBuy.com leads the race, followed by CompUSA.com and then CircuitCity.com. Microcenter.com and Radioshack.com were thrown in to the mix but they were no competition to the big three.

The big spike you see around November, 2006 is the Thanksgiving traffic!

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Any one who is a frequent flyer would appreciate the importance of real-time flight information. FlightStats platform owned by Conducive Technology Corp. delivers real-time and historical flight information that lowers travel related costs and improves the travel experience.

They have come up with an “All In One Widget” which you can embed directly on your Google homepage or Live.com. You can request a custom version for your own web site. The best part is this is free.

The widget allows you to track Flight Status, get Flight Rating, obtain Flight Notification, and see Current US Airport Delays.

If you are interested in more detailed integration in your web site or application, they have XML Web Services library which provide the following features:

• Current and Historical Flight Status
• Flight Notification and Event Messaging
• Flight Performance Rating
• Itinerary Monitoring
• Weather Conditions and Forecasts
• Current and Historical Airport Delays
• Airline and Airport Performance Information
• General Airline and Airport Information
• Flight Schedules and Dynamic Flight Routing

What would be nice is to have it integrated with MySpace to display information about your home town airport on your homepage.

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Some of us blog as a hobby but others are professionals bloggers. Either way, if you have a blog or are in the process of starting a blog then making money out of it is not a bad idea (as long as it does not affect the user experience).

Without getting into the details on why or why not monetize your blog, I will present to you a list of posts on topics related to monetizing your blogs. These topics will not only provide great insight into why you should think about monetizing but will also lead you through the process and help you implement best practices and use best tools out there.

• How to Make Money From Your Blog: In his post Steve talks not only about ways to monetize your blogs but also why you should do it and how to plan it.
• 10 Ways to Monetize Your Blog: Pat talks about 10 great techniques of Monetizing your blog.
• How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs: Of course who can forget Darren Rowse at Problogger.net, he is an expert in this art and has lot of helpful articles for bloggers. In this post he covers 12 different techniques for making money from your blog. He also has a post on top income earning streams for his own blog.
• Monetizing your Blog: In his post Scott mentions 6 methods he uses to make money from his blog.
• Podcast on Monetizing your blog (download here): Pro blogger Nick Wilson, one of the founders of Performacing.com talks on this topic in this podcast available for download in mp3 format.
• Top 6 Tips for Earning Money Through Blogging: Deborah talks about 6 techniques for making money from a blog which is getting decent amount of traffic. You might want to read this post Top 10 Tips for Bringing Traffic to Your Blog as well.
• Google Adsense Alternatives: An e-book available for download for free. It talks about 30 different alternative programs to Adsense which you can use on your site.
• Monetize Your Blog: I found the two articles on Make Money with money4blogs and Make Money (soon) with Fair Ads Network as something new.
• Monetize your blog…ok, is anyone but the big guys making money out there?: Talks about multivariable split testing to test which format is working for your blog.
• We Want to Get Businesses Blogging: They are/were giving the book Publish and Prosper: Blogging for your Business away for free.
• Making Money with Your Blog from A to Z: Steve Rubel has compiled a list of opportunities to make money from your blog. Have a peak at the comments to his post too!
• Monetize Your Blog through Text Messages - TextMarks: Another problogger article.
• booBox - Yet Another Unobtrusive Approach to Monetize Your Blog: In this post Thilak covers booBox. Also check his post Vizu Answers - Make Money With Polls.
• Simple Guide to Monetizing your Blog: A step by step guide to monetizing your blog.
• Monetizing Your Blog: Forum covering monetization topics.
• Ways To Monetize Your Blog: Inspired by problogger.net Silicon Valley Blogger discusses techniques she used and what were the results.
• What is the best way to monetize a web site?: In this post Aaron raises the question on which is the best method to monetize your site. The important part to read here are the comments people have left on his question.

This list is no way a complete list and I hope to hear from the readers on tips and articles which have helped them effectively monetize their blogs.

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Yahoo Inc. together with Bender, the producer of the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” launched a website - http://www.18seconds.org - devoted to rallying US consumers to fight global warming by switching light bulbs from standard bulbs to CFL bulbs.

The movement itself has been named 18Seconds movement as that is the typical amount of time is takes for a person to change a light bulb.

“This movement is about empowering the individual — to say to every person in America that with one easy step, they can become part of a movement that will literally change the world,” said Bender, producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’

The amount of electricity saved by using a 13-watt CFL instead of a conventional 60-watt bulb translates into a reduction of 450 pounds of greenhouse gases spewed by a coal-burning power plant, according to Yahoo.

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Douglas A Karr has written a widget to display Technorati rank on your blog.

It is very simple to use and you can embed the JavaScript anywhere on your blog, preferably sidebar to show your Technorati rank.

Here is mine:

Douglas is working on the limitation of fixed number of hits per day set by Technorati. So this might not be visible after some time of the day. You can use his code directly on your site with your own Technorati key to display your rank.

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