Get Dr. Dobbs Journal and MSDN Magazine for Free

Some very interesting news for software developers.

You can now subscribe to the digital editions of Microsoft MSDN Magazine and Dr. Dobb's Journal for free. MSDN is primarily for programmers who are using Microsoft technologies while the Dr Dobb's covers almost all languages and platforms.

Just login using your Windows Live ID to subscribe to MSDN Magazine and Dr. Dobbs Journal Digital editions. [Update: This offer is no longer valid]

The issues of Dr Dobb's Journal and MSDN Magazine are also available for download in PDF format.

And if you are based in India, you also stand a chance to win an XBOX 360 or Zune if you subscribe to these electronic magazines before October 15.

Windows Live Writer Supports Blogger Photos, YouTube

As expected, Microsoft today released a new build of Windows Live Writer - it's still a beta product but with some welcome improvements.

I find the new release of Windows Live Writer is more fast and responsive than the previous versions. Here's a quick recap of some other very useful features added in WLW v2008:

1. Upload Images to Blogger Directly - If you have a blog hosted on Blogger, you can include local photos in your blog posts and Windows Live Writer will automatically upload them to your Google Picasa web account.

2. Debugging made simple: If you are trying to publish a new blog post or retrieving some existing post for editing but WLP is not getting through, you can find the root of the problem from WLW log file.

The Log file has been there since day 1 but now WLW makes it extremely simple to view it in your default text editor. Goto Help -> About -> Show Log File.

3. Print / Print Preview - You can print blog posts directly from WLW just like you would do inside Microsoft Word or any word processor.

4. Embed YouTube Videos in Blogs - Earlier you had to download a separate Insert Video plugin to embed web videos in your blog posts but now that feature is inbuilt - just type the video URL and WLW will automatically generate the embed code. Pretty handy. More Windows Live Writer Plugins.

Windows Live Writer supports YouTube, Splashcast, Brightcove, Google Video, MySpace, Revver and MSN Soapbox.

Maximum Number of Google Adsense Ads Allowed on a Page

Google Adsense allows a maximum of three standard ad units, two Adsense for Search boxes, three Adsense link units and three Adsense referral units to be placed on any web page.

The program policy says:

Currently, AdSense publishers may place up to three AdSense for content units on one web page. you may also place a maximum of three link units and two search boxes on each web page.

You may place up to three link units on a page, in addition to the three standard ad units and two search boxes that.

If you place more than one ad unit on a page, our system will display unique ads to each ad unit. Because the system automatically displays an optimal number of highly targeted Google ads on each page, in some cases, the maximum number of ads may not always appear. In this case, the ad unit will be displayed as a transparent box or will contain any alternative ad or colour specified in the ad code.

The Adsense Bible also says - "No Google ad may be placed on pages published specifically for the purpose of showing ads, whether or not the page content is relevant." 


Related: Adsense Tips for Improving Revenue

Synchronize Files, Folders across Multiple Computers Automatically

Imagine a scenario where you have multiple computers that are all connected to the internet - the home desktop runs Windows and contains all your music and family photos, the office computer stores official documents but while traveling, you prefer to carry the Macbook.

Your goal is sync the data (music, documents, photos, etc) scattered across multiple computers or even directly access files stored on computer A from computer B. For instance, if you add some new photos to your home computer, they should also become available in your Macbook pictures folder as well so that you can enjoy the pictures while on the move.

Similarly if you have work from both office and home, the documents on the Office computer should be accessible for editing from the home computer and once edited, it should automatically replace the outdated version sitting on the office desktop.

The Solution - When your files are scattered across computers and you hate transferring data via CDs, FTP, email attachments or USB cables, a neat time-saving solution is FolderShare - a free software utility from Microsoft that can synchronize the contents of folders on different computers over the internet.

To get started, you download the FolderShare software on each of the computers that you want to synchronize and then select the folders that you would like to keep in sync - a good example is the "My Documents" folder.

Update: Folder Share is no longer available but a good alternative is SkyDrive or Dropbox.

FolderShare runs in the background and automatically syncs files across different computers. If a particular machine is offline, the document will be synched the next time you connect it to the web.
Other than sync, FolderShare can also be used to download files in shared folders from any computer remotely via the web browser (similar to PurpleNova or Dekoh).

There are absolutely no limitations expect that the maximum size of individual files should not exceed 2 GB. Windows Live FolderShare is a perfect alternative to online backup services like Mozy or IDrive - the moment you connect your computers to the net, content of one computer are automatically backed on the hard drive of the other computer(s) that may be located in the nearby room, your office or somewhere else.

And though FolderShare is from Microsoft stable, it supports file sharing on both Mac and Windows computers.

Related: Synchronize File Folders with Good Sync

Use Facebook People Search Engine

Facebook today added public search listings meaning. if you agree, your name and profile picture will appear in organic search results when people look for your name.

See: Reverse Email Search with Facebook

A simple Google search for "inurl:www.facebook.com/p/" suggests that there are over 26.5k public profiles on Facebook already.

There's more - outsiders or non Facebook members can use the public search box on Facebook's home page to find friends who may have public profiles on Facebook and contact them.

How Do Search Engines Discover Facebook Profiles ?
Normally search engines like Google or Yahoo! discover new web pages only when they are linked from another website that's already in the index of search engines.

Would anyone have a clue how Google would discover your Facebook public profile when it's not hyperlinked from any other site.

Related: Most Innovative Facebook Groups

New Version of Windows Live Writer 1.0 Coming Very Soon

Bloggers rejoice! You can expect to download and play with the final release of Windows Live Writer 1.0 as early as this week.

The New York Times gave a small hint when it said that the new Windows Live Software Suite will be the first full release and that the Windows Live installer includes the Windows Live Writer blogging application.

Now we have an indirect confirmation from Joe Cheng who is the main Microsoft developer at the Windows Live Writer team.

Joe probably configured the new Windows Live Writer 1.0 release to work with his blog and that led to a style-detection Temporary Post. Though the post is deleted from the main blog, it stills exists in the cache of my newsreader. (see screenshot)

A temp post is normally created by WLW when you update your blog style. In Joe's case, the blog theme is same as before so he probably did a fresh installation of WLW 1.0. Can't wait to see what goes in the new release.

Related: WLW For Power Users, WLW Tips, Windows Live Writer Plugins

Like Flickr, Yahoo! Unites MyBlogLog With a Single Login

One less username / password combination to remember.

MyBlogLog users will soon be able to use their Yahoo! IDs for logging onto their MyBlogLog accounts. This integrations news comes just eight months after Yahoo! acquired MyBlogLog.

Robyn says that they will be merging all MyBlogLog accounts with their owner’s Yahoo! accounts later this week.

Contrast that with del.icio.us which became part of Yahoo! family in 2005 but is still a very separate product. Surprisingly, even after acquiring del.icio.us years ago, Yahoo! is still maintaining a clone service called Yahoo! MyWeb.

Related: MyBlogLog Hacks for Recent Site Visitors