Surfing the web, you find many interesting websites or blogs which you want to subscribe to. But the never-ending search for the RSS link is a burden we all share. If you are using Google Reader, I may have the perfect solution for you.
Bookmark or favorite the following URL:javascript:var%20b=document.body;var%20GR________bookmarklet_domain='http://www.google.com';if(b&&!document.xmlVersion){void(z=document.createElement('script'));void(z.src='http://www.google.com/reader/ui/subscribe-bookmarklet.js');void(b.appendChild(z));}else{location='http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/'+encodeURIComponent(location.href)}Using Google Chrome or Firefox, you can drag this link to your bookmarks bar – Subscribe.
Now, you may skip the RSS link seeking and simply click the link you have just bookmarked.
In my browser, Google Chrome, it looks like this:
If you want to check it out, feel free to give it a shot and subscribe to my blog.
First, thank you for the bug reports. Without them, new & enhanced versions simply won’t come out.
The plugin now has better video detection capabilities, and a serious bug regarding the auto thumbnailing feature is fixed.
You can download the new version at:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/youtube-thumbnailer/
Any bug reports, feature requests or comments are welcomed in the comments section below.
Have a look at your browser’s address bar – your sight is just fine. You actually are on orenyomtov.com as opposed to this morning, when this website lived under the .info TLD.
It has been quite a long time since I made the decision to move to the new domain. But there were two drawbacks which delayed the domain transfer. The first one is lack of time, and the second one is… Well, my laziness.
Anyways, I thought I would share some of the steps I took in order to move the website to the new domain. I was lucky enough that I didn’t have to change hosts. Doing that may have required some additional steps.
- I bought the new domain and linked it to my hosting.
- I downloaded the latest WordPress installation and uploaded it into the new domain by FTP (Looking for an FTP client?).
- I copied the
wp-contentfolder. And in my case, the “downloads” folder which is the folder I chose to store the uploads in (Default iswp-content/uploads). - I also copied the
wp-config.phpfile and the.htaccessfile. - I used the Search and Replace WordPress plugin to replace “orenyomtov.info” with “orenyomtov.com” in the database.
- I notified Google of the domain change in Google Webmaster Tools.
- I exported a new sitemap using the Google XML Sitemap Generator plugin and submitted it to Google Webmaster Tools.
- I opened a new Google Analytics account and deployed the new tracking code in the theme I copied in step 3.
- I edited the old .htaccess file to contain only:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule (.*) http://orenyomtov.com/$1 [R=301,L] - I updated my FeedBurner account and all other similar services.
- I updated my website to the new URL in all of my favorite social platforms (@orenyomtov) and forums.
- Twit twit.
- And then I began writing this post.
The move didn’t take as long as I expected it to take. Even though it does seem a little complicated after writing it all down.
I hope that your move will be as smooth as mine. Good luck, Oren.
When one goes to a job interview, mostly in retail stores and other similar jobs, a test is often asked to be filled. The purpose of the test is to aid the filtering process of the applications in there.
My brother emailed me an interesting answer sheet for one of those tests. You should really take a look at it, there are some very interesting answers and questions.
For example, every question has four possible answers:
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
And only one correct answer, but according to the answer key: “Disagree” or “Agree” are NEVER the right answer to any question, even though any sensible person will have mixed feelings about all these questions
.
Nevertheless, I have found several particularly interesting answers for questions I know I would have answered differently:
- When people make mistakes, you correct them – Strongly Disagree
- When you are annoyed with something, you say so – Strongly Disagree
- You do not like to take orders – Strongly Disagree
- You get mad at yourself when you make mistakes – Strongly Disagree
And some other answers that quite surprised me:
- You are somewhat a of a thrill-seeker – Strongly Agree
- Many people cannot be trusted – Strongly Disagree
- You’ve done your share of troublemaking – Strongly Disagree
I found these tests to be anti-ambitious and anti-innovative. They are simply looking for strait-forward, friendly and rule obeying employees. What is your opinion?
I’ve received many emails complaining that the plugin does not recognize YouTube videos. Because of lack of time, I delayed the update until now.
I just released an update to the plugin which should solve most of the issues that I was contacted about.
Go ahead and download the new version:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/youtube-thumbnailer/
Last month I participated in two amazing events. The first one is The Big Geek and is considerably similar to the second event called Startup Weekend. They both took place in Israel.
The Big Geek II
Startupseeds
This event was organized by StartupSeeds, a non-profit organisation encouraging teen Israeli entrepreneurs to make their first steps in the entrepreneurship world. Whether it’s by giving them a place to talk about technology, or by conducting monthly meetings with the most interesting lectures (for free!). StartupSeeds even assists young innovative kids with starting their own startups by providing them financial help and the best mentors available. The online forum and meetings created a large and friendly community for the Israeli teenager who breaths technology and internet.
What’s the event about?
Sixteen kids (Ages 14-18), divided into four “teams”, worked 24 hours non-stop on their unique idea for a startup. Each team raised a fully working service within those 24 hours (!). While the projects are not breath-taking nor unbelievable, they are still awesome considering the time spent working on them. Actually, they’re awesome not matter what.
The project that my team and I developed is FixedInch. It’s a free online service for displaying objects in their real size over any screen in the world. We have discussed the possibility to continue working on it, and we most likely will, in the near future.
What else can I say? It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. It was 24 hours of fun and jokes, some of could not be told anywhere else like (via @TalDromi):
“Let’s use JSON for this”
“Who’s this Jason you are talking about?”
“XML’s brother!”
Startup Weekend Israel 2009
This is a world-wide known event, which started in 2007. Since then it took place in over 50 cities and growing (!). This is kind of a grown-up version of the Big Geek.
During the first day, 140 Israeli entrepreneurs pitched 50 unique ideas which turned into thirteen motivated teams. Each team consisted of about 4-8 people who designed and developed their idea for three days. The second day was all about work and food (lots of it!). On the third day of the event, the teams finished their work and presented their project.
My team and I worked on Frayer Meter – an online free service that suggests the most economical cellular plan according to one’s needs. While it’s not fully functional, we plan to continue working on it as we believe in it’s potential.
NOTE: If you don’t know Hebrew, feel free to use Google Translate when visiting links from this post.
