Category Archives: Technology

Errors 403,404,405,…..

Technology, Web

As I sat to write a blog on 14th August, I could not open or login to this blog. Each time I tried to open the site, I got this message – “403 Forbidden – You don’t have permission to access [directory] on this server“.

I was worried if the site has been hacked by someone, but soon I understood that there was some problem with the server. After some interactions with a friend who is hosting this site, I decided to move the site to another server. Luckily, it worked. I am able to login now and blog. But only problem was that the entire process of shifting to another server took about a week.

Since I am a “web technology illiterate”, I decided to find out what this 403 is and what other numbers do I need to know. As I googled, I was taken to Wikipedia(where else?!!), where there is a good summary of all types of HTTP status codes. To my surprise, I understood that there are 5 groups of codes, and each group starting with the numbers 1 to 5. It was an interesting read, but with no specific insight. If you are interested in knowing more about it, click here.

Next time an error code pops up, I know where to look for an answer.

3.6 and Twenty Thirteen

Social Media, Technology

Yesterday, I updated my website to the latest WordPress version for the first time in 4 years.I started blogging using WordPress in 2009, but when I started, I had no idea what WordPress was. My friend Sudev Rajah purchased the domain on my behalf and hosted it in his server. He guided me how to login and how to start posting blogs. I did not know anything about WordPress themes or how to install them at that time.

But things changed after I started my own firm. For a start-up, having a very good website and generating traffic and leads through the website is today the easiest and most cost-effective way to build a brand. It was only after I started working on my own company websites with a bunch of young friends that I started to understand this fascinating world of websites. It also helped that I took up the responsibility of revamping the website of a Toastmasters Club that I am part of. (Interestingly, that website went on to win the best website award among 15 odd contestants in an annual conference of a Division.)

Coming back to the updated website, the latest version is 3.6 and is called “Oscar”in honor of the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. The theme has also been upgraded to the new “Twenty Thirteen“. The official WordPress blog about the new updates can be found here.

If you are one of those who wanted to have a website for themselves, but never really got around building one, you should try out the new theme. It is quite easy to use. As I was figuring out how best I can use the new theme, I came across some good resource in the form of a YouTube video. Watch it below and you will get a step-by-step advice on how to do it.

Why is LinkedIn the most popular social media platform for Fortune 500 CEOs?

Social Media, Technology, , , ,

Only 32% of the F500 CEOs have some form of social media presence(LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+). Of these, LinkedIn is not only the most popular(140 CEOs are on LinkedIn), but also added more number of CEOs to its list compared to the previous year. This is based on the annual study by CEO.com and DOMO. The picture below is self-explanatory.

This prompted a very interesting question from a friend and industry colleague – “28% of Fortune 500 CEOs have ‘presence’ on LinkedIn. But, why shun other social media platforms (Tw, FB, G+ etc.)? “

My take on this was “Serious business discussions, professional networking and idea sharing happen mostly in LinkedIn. Facebook is strictly for personal networking(at least for me). Twitter is too noisy, and it is very difficult to cut through the clutter. G+ is promising(and it has been that way for some time), but does not have critical mass.. For me, LinkedIn wins hands down when it comes to work related stuff. Perhaps most CEOs feel the same?”.

The report had this to say about LinkedIn “The way CEOs are using LinkedIn is changing, and that is partl ydue to the “Influencer” program on LinkedIn Today, which has CEOs lining up to be seen as part of this prestigious club of experts. Here are four Fortune 500 CEOs who rank as LinkedIn Influencers – Meg Whitman, Jamie Dimon, Jeff Immelt, John Donahoe. “

Which social media platform do you prefer?

PS: The study can be downloaded here.

Search Engine Optimization – A History

Social Media, Technology, Web,

Having worked in a highly web-oriented company before I ventured on my own, I had heard a lot about SEO and how to build a brand and generate leads through SEO. I have always been sceptical about the long term sustainability of using SEO without having good content. (Seth Godin’s blog on the problems with SEO is here). Irrespective of my scepticism, it was quite interesting to go through the History of CEO, as presented by HubSpot. It confirms what my take on SEO is – it is all about content.

The presentation by HubSpot is given below.

Prezi – The Power Point Killer?

Technology, ,

The title of this blog is a bit dramatic and I don’t think Power Point is going away anytime soon. But then, Prezi “appears” to be an alternative. But why “appears” to be an alternative? Because I haven’t seen it used by anyone  till early this week when my colleague showed me a presentation “NYC : Is it Sustainable”. The interesting part, he explained, was that the slide deck was made in Prezi, which is a cloud based application and has a free version. The Prezi presentation about NYC is given below.

I had forgotten about Prezi after that, but was reminded of it again by an article in the July edition of the Toastmasters International magazine. In the article, the author Christine Clapp, DTM quotes Angelie Agarwal, the founder and head trainer at Learn Prezi (learnprezi.com), who recommends Prezi for people who are craving a change and want to do presentations in a drastically different way from what is possible with PowerPoint or Keynote, the PowerPoint-like software offered by Apple. According to the Prezi website, the cloud-based presentation software has a “zoomable canvas [that] makes it fun to explore ideas and the connections between them.” Christina Hoyer, a Copenhagen-based presentation-skills trainer and the cofounder of Imprezzing (imprezzing.com), points out that zooming makes Prezi special. She explains, “Prezi is fun to work with and you can make beautiful designs with a few simple text elements and basic images,” she says. “Prezi encourages you to do things in a simple and elegant way, but not necessarily a linear way.” 

Prezi has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The author lists the following.

Advantages

  1. Showing ideas, connections and the big picture
  2. Easy integration of images and video
  3. More creativity and flexibility
  4. Compatible across computers

Disadvantages

  1. Difficult to manipulate initially
  2. Zooming can be disorienting
  3. Not easy to make handouts
  4. Subscription required for private presentations

Curious to know more about Prezi? Click here and start “Prezi-ying”