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We have our iPhone application successfully approved by apple and available in iTunes.  The application’s purpose is to bring different love tools under one roof. With our first version, we have included four different modules and we are planning to bring more features in our future releases.

Our first tool is “Love Chart” where you can check the relationship you might have with your partner(s). Our Next tool is “Compatibility Chart” which helps a person to find their compatible, incompatible and neutral partners, using their moon sign. We believe this might help you in zeroing in on your mate. The next tool is “My Partners” using which you can preserve memories with whom you have spent time together. Our final tool is “Gender prediction” which helps a couple to predict gender of their baby they are going to have, using mothers age and month of conceive. The couple can also decide the month the mother has to conceive, to have baby of their own preference.

We developed the application using XCode 3.1 IDE tool to program our logic and interface Builder to design our interface. Since this was our first application, we went through almost all the video tutorials available from Apple’s Developer Site which taught us what is iPhone application development all about. We then started with learning Objective C programming. Finally we went through the Human Interface Guidelines, which is essential when you develop any iPhone application. With this base knowledge, we dived directly into our first application and successfully got it approved by apple without any problem.

We are working on our next application in the same Lifestyle category and it will be available soon in iTunes store and you can check this site for more information. You can expect more from this before this year end. We will keep them posted.

You can buy My Love Vault from:

Doing Unit testing is helps a team to produce quality application with in time by allowing the developer to test the code as soon as they write it. By developing a test document, developers are forced to do rigorous testing before it reaches to QA team. This way the span of life cycle is reduced by avoiding it going back and forth between the developer and the tester. The following few Frameworks help teams to do unit testing efficiently. This way unit testing could become a fun to your developers too.

Four Frameworks to perform unit testing in PHP are

1. SimpleTest

2. PHPUnit

3. phpt

4. SnapTest

SimpleTest:

It’s a Open souce unit test framework created by Marcus Baker for PHP. The test structure in SimpleTest is similar to the Junit and PHPUnit.  It contains all of the typical functions in Junit and PHPunit and also includes Mock objects. Simplte Test helps to automate the web application’s regression testing. Regression testing on web applications can be done by parsing the HTML page by using scrpitable HTTP client for simulations like Form submission and clicking on Hyperlinks. Some of the JWebUnit functionalities like web page navigation, cookie testing and form submission are also incorporated in this.

Download and test your version of Simple test.

PHPUnit:

PHP Unit is a part of xUnit family, which has testing frameworks in it. It provides a framework that helps in creating the test scripts easily and also the functionality to execute the tests and then analyze the results. The tests are arranged into cases in PHPUnit, which is very similar to Simple Test. A case is essentially a class in which public methods are singular independent tests.  A test name starts with “test” if the test is a public method. Any test, which is not, a public method will not be taken into account unless interpreted as a test under PHPUnit.  Helper methods are very useful for recurring tasks. If used Helper methods to set up a test, the test will be considered as a separate test by the framework. Refrence to assert methods are present inside each and every test. An assertion is mainly taking an expected value and then comparing it with an actual value. If the expected value does not match the actual value, then the test fails. Mock Objects are hugely important component in maintaining a unit test’s segregation from all other classes and resources except the one under test.

The following link will assist you to get more idea on PHPUnit.

PHPT:

A phpt test is a small script, which used by the php internal and quality assurance teams for testing PHP’s functionalities. Writing phpt tests helps to make PHP more stable. For writing up a phpt test, we need a basic knowledge on PHP language, a text editor and a method to get the results of the code.  Phpt test is used in following scenario: The run-tests.php scripts call the test and it takes different parts of phpt file to name and to create a .php file. The newly created .php file is executed and the output of the same is compared with different sections of a phpt file. The Test pass only when the output of the script “matches” with the output provided in the phpt script.  Phpt test will do the following: It tries and breaks the PHP functions. PHPT test check the functions normal parameters as well as edge cases.

More on Phpt

SnapTest:

The most powerful unit-testing framework for PHP 5+ is SnapTest.  PHP’s runtime language is the only one of its kind that can be used to make the unit test process simpler without sacrificing the agility tests. The philosophy on which the Snap Test was build: Unit testing should be transparent in Snap Test. Complexity of test harness and coding out stub files should be avoided in Snap Test. The obstacle in writing tests should be very less so that it becomes easier to write the tests than writing the code.

Features of the SnapTest are:

• JUnit Compliant Test Harness

• TAP Compliant Test Output

• Runnable from Command Line via .sh or .php scripts

• Full support for mock objects at runtime (minimum parallel structures) as actors and critics

• Extensible add-on system for adapting SnapTest to just about any developer environment

Here you go for:  SnapTest

Let me know if you are familiar with other frameworks.

Day-to-Day we see lot of SEO tools in web and many people would have missed useful SEO tools that are not marketed well. Here are four SEO tools that you would have missed and you would be interested to use.

Keyword frequency analysis (single words, two and three words)

The tool helps to pick top 10 keywords in-group of single, double and three word keyword phrases from title, Meta description, Meta keyword and ALT-attributes. This tool can be used to find competitors on-page optimization work related to keyword phrases tags.

http://oyoy.eu/page/keywords/

Search engine SPAM detector

The tool analysis and finds whether a webpage has followed keyword stuffing, doorway farms, hidden text through JavaScript or by CSS. This tool can be used to find web page aspects that search engines could consider as spam.

http://tool.motoricerca.info/spam-detector/

Backlinks Checker Tool – Backlinks Watch

The tool helps for the best to find everything related to inbound links and covers anchor text, backlinks quality plus limitations with nofollow tag and inbound links Page rank.

http://www.backlinkwatch.com/

Keyword mapping tool

The Keyword Map tool shows the relation between search terms / keywords in graphic with good interface for easier understanding on choosing the right combination of keywords.

http://www.kwmap.com/

What exactly do we mean by duplicate content? Websites with identical pages and websites identical to another website on the net is considered as content duplication. Writing a content for a website is entirely a different thing to normal writing. It involves plenty of creative ideas and more importantly it should contain related keywords which is most used by the visitor.

Now let us see why you should avoid duplicating the content?

First of all, copying the content brings down the understanding of the concept. If you start understanding, that is only how you grow. The scriptwriter should understand why something is and how it works. If you copy, you are missing out on that. You are just resurfacing the upper layer and not getting into layers underneath when you do that.

If you are not willing to write on your own, you will not know the exact intention and get stuck at one place. You will not know how to take it forward. The originality of the content will be missing.

While it is easier to just copy from someone else, why do you have to create a new one? If you don’t do that, you will not know why it looks like, you cannot feel the way it feels like and you will not be able to read the way it should be read. The final outcome will be an artificial one.

Content Duplication and its impacts on SEO

1. Duplication of content will be considered a spam by all the search engines. There are so many websites with similar products, so the copywriter must be very careful in creating content. Search Engines likes fresh and unique content. It ranks websites depending primarily on the content used in web pages. 

2. Changing the phrase of an existing content and rewriting is also considered as content duplication. Search Engines have ways to find out and it is supposed to be spam. This will certainly affect the ranking of a website.

3. When a website is reported to have duplicate content issues, the total number of pages ranked by the search engine will automatically come down. Fewer pages to rank will lessen the rankings and might lead to lower traffic.

4. It is important to make your content unique; otherwise there is absolutely no point in doing all these. The search engines will not bother to feature your website in its result pages.

5. There is a difference between content duplication “penalties” and “filtering”. When we refer to penalty in search engine rankings, we actually talk of points being reduced from your overall score, but the truth is, the pages are just filtered like you filter unwanted particles from a can of liquid. Accidently, this filtering can sometimes filter out your good particles.

Tips to avoid Content Duplication

1. While preparing content, make sure you don’t copy it from somewhere and try to replace the words with exact meanings. The search engines have already come up with a solution to deal with this issue.

2. Before you sit down to write, ask yourself what exactly will create value for your users.

3. Try to get various perspectives, take the good points from them and fill the rest with your own thoughts and creativity. After all, you have to make it happen and move forward.

4. You can be influenced by many, but make sure you don’t copy anything.

So while preparing content, watch out for duplication from search engine’s point of view and as well as loyal customer’s point of view. At the end of the day, it is the search engine and ultimately the customer who are going to “look” at your content, so make sure it is liked by both, otherwise all the efforts you put in for your business to grow will go wasted.

After a month’s time today we have completed our Apple iPhone developer program registration. We have three applications and a game to be tested for our clients and it’s a milestone to do the testing and certification for the application in house.

The process goes this way:

1. Register and get an Apple ID
2. Apply for the iPhone developer program and wait for them. It took 15 days for them to contact us back.
3. Send your company incorporation to Apple with the registration ID by Fax. They provided 3 Fax numbers.
4. After Faxing, I also sent them an Email. Received an acknowledgement the next day from Apple.
5. Again, a waiting period, 8 days.
6. I wrote them again.
7. Got a call from Apple Hong Kong within an hour and then the agreement form by Email within another hour
8. Sent the agreement to them (Just a click to agree). It took me to a print form to send the credit card details. Printed it, filled it up and sent by Fax.
9. Next day, payment was processed, and we are allowed to access the iphone developer portal.

Everyone says that it’s not easy to join in the developer program. Actually its right partially, But Apple wants to allow only serious developers in. Their verification system is but time consuming, and they really want to see if the developer is providing complete details. I like this verification system, which filters non-serious developers.

Ok, now why take all these steps?

Here is the list of iPhone development program benefits.

1. Develop and test it on the actual device (iPhone or iPod Touch) – You can only test the application in the simulator, until you become a member.
2. You can distribute your application or game through iTune store for free or for a price.
3. Share your application with other iPhones (up to 50) for internal testing – called ad-hoc distribution
4. Coupon code for your application reviewers

Overall, your application is reaching millions of iTunes store users, and you get a chance to reach them easily.

I believe now RIM is also working on a store like this (http://mobileapps.blackberry.com/devicesoftware/entry.do?code=appworld) to support Blackberry developers.

Google as a search giant knows how to help site owners and webmasters on search index. Time to Time Google team has been updating Google Webmaster Tools list and now its has come to a good form. All over, these tools provide reports on your site visibility, diagnose problems, and as well helps to share information about your site to Google.

To start, here is the list

1. Google Webmaster Tools are free and easy to set up through site owner verification process by adding a Google code Meta tag to the page or by creating and uploading a file with Google code. Once you are verified you can access the tools dashboard.
2. Sitemap tool allows you to submit XML Sitemap with details on pages to index and priority to crawl pages. If you don’t have a site map create one and submit to site configuration sitemap section.
3. Crawler access tool helps to generate and test robots.txt to specify how search engines should crawl and index site content.
4. When you Google for information you can see Sitelinks. Sitelinks displays inner links generated by Google algorithm depends on how related and useful for users queries. You have no control to add but you can block / remove the link from displaying the site links if you don’t want to list.
5. Change of address is a special tool to tell Google about your new domain and helps to move your old site users to you new domain easily. This process has 4 simple steps to follow like content link verification, 301 redirect from old to new domain, adding and verifying new site to Google webmaster tool and submitting the change of address
6. Geographic target tool helps to target users in specific location. You can select the country based on the users you target and it would help for .com, .org and other top-level domains. Country specific domains like .in, co.uk and so are already associated with Country based listing.
7. Preferred domain allows you to select the domain format you like to display. You have options to select http://www.yourdomain.com and http://yourdomain.com. If you have selected http://www.yourdomain.com and the site inner page links with http://yourdomain.com then search results display URL’s takes as http://www.yourdomain.com
8. Crawl rate can be changed depending on the site root level depth and default crawl rate is recommended to avoid increase server’s bandwidth. This Crawl rate has no connection with how often Googlebot crawls your site.
9. Top search queries tool has information on your site search keywords impressions and clickthrogh ratio along with keywords position.
10. Links to your site tool provides information on inbound links with anchor text for your site pages.
11. Keywords and internal links tool shows the common keywords Googlebot sees when it crawl’s the site and internal links shows the total number of pages linked by other pages in your site.
12. Crawl errors is another special tool that lists issues Google encountered when crawling your site. The list includes HTTP, error in sitemaps, not followed pages, not found pages, pages restricted by robots.txt, timed out / unreachable pages for Web, Mobile CHTML and Mobile WML / XHTML?
13. Crawl stats tool shows statistics on Googlebot activity on pages crawled per day, kilobytes downloaded per day, time spent downloading a page and PageRank distribution.
14. HTML suggestions are provided when Googlebot crawls your site and find issues with your site content. Working on these issues will help your site in better listing and users experience. Here you can find details on Meta description, Title tag and Non-indexable content in your site.

Now ask a question yourself why don’t I use Google Webmaster tools, if I have as many tools and information from Google for free. Sign in to Google Webmaster Tools with your Google account today!

Before starting with the topic let me give you a brief note about link bait and practices so that you would have an idea how it works for you

Linkbait is one of the task in link building that takes both quantity and quality inlinks, relevant and irrelevant to your website through various types of tricks and practices.

The tricks and practices are vast enough and it can’t be covered as a theory since all these tricks would differ from person to person ideas and their needs. Few may try running a SEO competition, quiz or awards that represent their business website or blog and few may try writing negative contents on a branded company or about a high profile person around the web so that many would come forward to have the content link in their website or blog in which they may think such collections that would again get them linked from different website or a blog. This works as a chain.

Now one of the most adopted link bait technique is by providing free tools with a code embedded link back to your site or blog and this has been more successful. In fact many SEO companies do linkbating as a service in different forms

To linkbait or Not to Linkbait?

Many people goes with a logic Linkbait by default is something bad, is it so?

Before writing this post I just surfed web to find what bloggers and industry leaders have experienced about link bait. Few were moderate and few feels it has both bad and good

I would say it is how we use, see and perform to the web. We have lot of debate on this topic, still some say it as a spam technique and some say it as a quality information or link distribution. Techniques that are open and user favorable with a link falls under ethical and they are good portion of link bait and techniques that are off as said attacking a brand for their website publicity, hidden stuff and spamming through various means falls under unethical that results bad linkbait. As I have already told it is up to us whether link bait is good or bad. Besides I would like to get your opinion about linkbaiting techniques that you have come across or used

1. Ajax powered Wordpress Themes:

Alisha provides a list of Ajax powered Wordpress themes. You may want to try one or more.Some of them are good, Some are limted with one or two features like search. Some not found. But worth a look if you plan to use Ajax in your templates.

http://www.softtechreviews.com/web-design/ajax-enabled-wordpress-themes/

2. Ajaxed Wordpress

This is a Wordpress plugin which adds power, usability and the beauty of AJAX to Wordpress based blogs and WordPress based websites. The plugin improves the user experience, the administration capabilities and the design potential or the blog/site.

http://ajaxedwp.com/#awp::

3. Ajax for Wordpress plugin developers

So how about writing your own Wordpress plugins with Ajax? Wordpress codex helps you to begin: http://codex.wordpress.org/AJAX_in_Plugins

4. Four Ajax Wordpress plugins

Finally, here are four plugins discussed. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9574 This should help you to get more ideas to start.

“Cloud computing” was a buzz word for me for a long time. It never attracted me after what I could understand from the two words mean to me – though some of the team members were working on it already. However, today I wanted to learn it, in fact, I was forced to learn its basic after a customer requested to setup a cloud computing. I found an interesting and detailed Video on Cloud computing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg

It was presented in an attractive way – at the end of it, I am sure, you will know the basics.

Few months ago, we started working on Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies, offered few different solutions to customers in India and UK. This is not a single technology or tool to just to learn and implement within a short span – it has a wide range of technologies which help businesses to not to just to stop with simple file sharing.

Sharepoint has much more. It’s worth a visit to them if an authenticated Intranet solution is what you are looking for.The base product is Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), (which is free for Windows server users) however Microsoft office Sharepoint services (MOSS 2007) is pricey.

You may use them to create a secure place to maintain and share all of your business data such as documents, schedules, announcements, calendars, discussion forums, etc.Since we are familiar with ASP.NET 2.0, developing Web parts were no longer a big job.

Microsoft says, “Windows SharePoint Services Web Part infrastructure is built on top of the Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Web Part infrastructure and Web Parts that derive from the ASP.NET WebPart class are completely supported in Windows SharePoint Services. You should create ASP.NET Web Parts whenever possible”. So to provide customization and scaling up the product with additional features will not be a problem, if you know how to write Web parts.

If you have the development environment which consists of Visual Studio 2005, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, and Knowledge in C# or VB, You should be able to shoot.I found two good resources to start your first Sharepoint Web part development.Post as comments if you have more.http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms452873.aspxhttp://www.15seconds.com/Issue/060914.htm

Additionally, if you understand how to add Web Part zone and Web parts using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, you can work on the design to to create containers for Web parts.The following are the two good resources to accomplish so:http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointdesigner/HA101513941033.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointdesigner/HA101487201033.aspx

Finally to add more confidence let us understand the advantages of Sharepoint: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb684456.aspx

We will keep our Sharepoint experiences posted in future.

Do you work on CSS and like to know more about what you might have to learn to keep you up in the phase?. This slideshow gives you an intro to make you ready.

View more documents from Andy Budd.

www.macronimous.com/iPhone

Looking for tools around?  Do you know that Google offers various handy tools that would help you to maximize your site visibility and drive more leads to your site?

Here some top Google tools to increase your sales conversion and ROI

1. Google Search suggest

When you type your business services or products words, Google suggest estimate what you type forth and the words listed are most searched terms. By this you can find the users search terms and compare with your site theme and go on with on page optimization. As well it do help for off page optimization by getting down the suggestion of most searched directory keywords.

2. Google alerts

Make use of Alerts to keep track on you competitor activities or industry or getting latest stories on specified key phrases through an email

3. Google Trends

Compare two or more terms to find out the search volume on a daily bases that are typed into Google’s search-box. The search popularity will be shown in charts and it is easy to find the difference on term search volume

4. Google Adwords keywords

The tool helps to get new keyword ideas and as well you can type your website URL so that Google lists out the search keywords related to your business services or products

5. Google Analytics

This is a web analytics solution offered by Google for free. It give you an insight on you site traffic and goal conversions. There are several options to track down your daily site visits / page views, keywords search visits, Geo, top contents visited, Goal tracking and many more

6. Google Web master tools

This tool helps you to find how Google see your WebPages. You can configure your sitemap about the page to be indexed and all about robots.txt. As well you can track total number of internal and external links, query traffic and diagnose problems if any

7. Search-based Keyword Tool

Using this tool you can get keyword ideas based on specific pages of your site and the keywords listed are from Google search queries

8. Google Insights for Search

This tool helps to compare search volume across categories, geographic distribution and Properties

9. Google Traffic Estimator Tools

Get quick traffic estimates for search keywords related to target location and bid amount without logging into adwords account

10. Google Website Optimizer Tool

This tool helps you to improve your existing web pages and traffic by testing your site content and design in relation with users performance.

These free tools are more of a pack from Google and hope you should have got an idea of these tools and how the tools can be used for your business growth exercise

Here is another nice, well I think it is nice, since it’s pretty short and gives you an over view quickly. All PHP developers must find one Framework for them before your client forces you to learn one.

Thanks to Ryan and Team for this precise information.

Here is a nice presentation which talks about the standards for Mobile web development.