You can now use Facebook’s import feature to add your Flickr photos into Facebook. To do this from Flickr, follow the instructions below. To do it directly from Facebook, use the Import link at the top of your Mini-Feed. Right now, only a few sites—Flickr, Yelp, Picasa, and del.icio.us—are available for importing. Digg and other sites are scheduled. These posts will look just like any other Mini-Feed stories, and will hopefully increase your ability to share information with your friends. I prefer the Flickr to Facebook method as I’ve had issues with different Facebook apps. But, its up to you!

How to Import Flickr Photos into Facebook

Tip: You have to put in your full email account name that you use at Flickr.

Here’s how it works.

1. Login to Flickr and click http://flickr.com/account?tab=extend

2. Scroll down the page until you find this “Your Facebook account. Link your accounts to share your Flickr updates on Facebook. ”

3. Click Link the Accounts. This starts the import process.

4. In Facebook, click the Import button to import into Facebook

5 You then get confirmation that your Flickr and Facebook accounts are connected.

Once you’ve done that, your latest Flickr uploads will be added into your Facebook News Feed and Mini-Feed.

Does this work for you?  If not, let me know.

To quote Van Halen, ‘everybody wants some.’ And what you want is traffic. Why write a blog if no-one visits, right? I have 17 technical writers’ blogs in my Google Reader & RSS feeds. Most are fine but… if they used some of the following tactics, they’d get more traffic, comments, money and Nobel prizes. Well, three out of four, anyway.

How To Get More Traffic To Your Technical Writing Blog

Apply five of these tactics and your traffic will double. No kidding, it will!

How To Get More Traffic #1: Add Your Photos

Look at your favorite technical writing blogs. How many faces do you see? Why are they all hiding? I dunno. Stick your mugshot on the page so we can see what you look like! Go on! None of us are Brad Pitt or Paris Hilton (OMG! Paris Hilton rebuilds career as technical writer shock!), so add a pic. Don’t be shy. People like to read about people they know. If they can’t see you…

How To Get More Traffic #2: Video

I’m no spring chicken, so if I can do it, you can. All of these video were taken on a Canon powershot.

Videos let people hear you, see your expression, feel what you’re trying to say in ways that words cannot. Making videos is easier that you think. I use Camtasia 6 for all its sins. (read my frustrated Camtasia 6 review here.)

How To Get More Traffic #3: Social Media Outposts

Use Social Media for maximum impact. With web content publishing tools like Posterous you can get the message out to all these channels with almost no effort. Posterous lets you post once, publish everywhere. Try it.

• Ivan: http://www.ivanwalsh.com
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ivanwalsh
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ivanwalsh
• Business Week http://bx.businessweek.com/profile/ivan-walsh/iwalsh905/
• And also on Disqus, Flickr, LinkedIn, Delicious and Google Reader

How To Get More Traffic #4: Quizzes

We all get tired of checking for split infinitives and looking for typos, so lighten things up. Add quizzes to get people involved… and try to be a little different.

• Did you ever download software illegally?
• What’s your manager’s most annoying habit?
• Would you let your boss friend you on Facebook?
• Do you know any technical writing who can reverse park? (I was going to say Women but then turned on my brain! That was so close!)
• Do you know any men who ask for directions when lost? One for the girls, no doubt.

How To Get More Traffic #5: Comics

May not work for all sites but comics are a nice break from technical documents and other heavy reading. Why do you think they are so popular? Every serious newspaper has them, why not you?

How To Get More Traffic #6: Reviews

If they come to your site, it’s your opinion they are after. So, why don’t you give it?

#1 cardinal sin of most blogs is that they have no opinion!

Don’t be scared! I’m with you! Give your honest opinion (try not to rant or swear) and you’ll see people will respond very quickly.

#2 cardinal sin of most blogs… bland!

If your blog echoes the rest of the crowd, well, why should I come back? Stick your neck out, even a little. Some people were upset that I dissed Camtasia but y’know I’d be lying if I said it worked!

How To Get More Traffic #7: Trends

Pssst! Did you know that… everyone wants to be in the know. Keep your readers up to date. Use graphs, charts and diagrams. See Brain Solis and Information in Beautiful for inspiration.

How To Get More Traffic #8: Lists

It doesn’t have to stop at 10. Here are a few list of get started:

• 21 Left Handed Technical Writers
• 7 Reasons Why Adobe FrameMaker Sucks But You Still Need to Buy It
• 12 Honest Ways to Get a Pay Rise
• 5 Ways To Give An Honest Appraisal
• 28 Ways to Proofred a Technical Documant
• 1 Good Reason to Join the STC
• 18 Mistakes Technical Writers Make Before Breakfast
• 9 Ways to Evaluate a Help Authoring Tool

How To Get More Traffic #9: How-to guides

Ok, the technical stuff comes last. If you’re going to offer technical advice (and you should!) identify the problem, explain how to fix it, and then ask for questions or comments.

#3 cardinal sin of blogging is… blogger doesn’t interact with readers. Ask for comments. If you have a Facebook page, give them the link and connect there. Use Twitter? Create lists for technical writers and add them. Like these lists I created for technical writers and creativity.

• Adobe FrameMaker list http://twitter.com/ihearttechdocs/adobeframemaker
• Creativity list http://twitter.com/ihearttechdocs/creativity
• Technical writing software http://twitter.com/ihearttechdocs/technicalwritingsoftware

Share, share, share!

What ya think! Fire away below.

You can add a Flickr Slideshow to your WordPress Blog using this single line of code. All you need to do this is a Flickr account, the tag you want to use and you’re done. That’s it. Here’s how to create the slideshow.

Adding a Flickr Slideshow to your WordPress Blog

To do this:

1. Go to your Flickr Photostream, e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/

2. Click Tags, for example, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/tags/

3. Select the tag you want, e.g. Cordoba http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/tags/cordoba/

4. Change the tag in this line of code to your tag

<iframe align=center src=http://www.flickr.com/slideShow/index.gne?user_id=10883933@N07&#038;tags=cordoba frameBorder=0 width=500 scrolling=no height=500></iframe>

5. Change the width and height if you want.

6. Paste the iframe to your blog! That’s it.

Other Flickr Tips?

Do you have any Flickr Tips you’d like to share?

Today is Friday, so let’s take it easy. Here are some of my favorite cities, places that I think you’d enjoy. I’ve been to all except Buenos Aires. Other honorable mentions go to London, Lagos (Portugal), Milan, Galway, Dunhaung, Amsterdam, New Orleans, and Hainan. Some pics for your amusement.

10 Cities To Visit Before You Croak!

1. Beijing – forget the Great Wall and go to the Summer Palace. You can get there on the metro and it’s a jewel. Try to go during the off-season and beat the crowds.

2. Berlin – hard to beat real black beer, even better than Guinness. I like Germans, probably the most reliable people I’ve ever met. When I arrived there, I got off at the wrong train stop. The Berlin Wall had just fallen and the taxi driver (an east German) dropped me off somewhere in the east side. He’s never been to the west side of the city. I eventually found the apartment. Thanks to Martin P and Bernd W.
3. Buenos Aires – Italians that speak Spanish! Hard not to like Argentina!
4. Glasgow, Scotland – try the deep-fried ice-cream; that’ll thicken your arteries! Scots are a unique sub-species and, for some, an acquired taste. I like winding them up – so easy! – and they like a good argument. Edinburgh is also lovely but Glasgow has that nice gritty edge.
5. Mexico City – never met a Mexican I didn’t like, go during Easter and see the pyramids. Yes, they have pyramids in Mexico!
6. Paris – when you get tired of Paris, you’re tired of life. It’s all here, folks.

7. San Francisco – swim in the ocean and then go ski in the hills. I never got to the east coast of the US despite living there for 8 years. I heard Carolina is lovely. Spent 48 hours in New York once but that hardly counts.
8. Seville, Spain – the land of Dali, the Moors and the best paella in the world. Barcelona, Granada, and Cordoba are all worth exploring.

9. Venice – a great place to get lost. You can go to Austria from here by train and go thru the mountains. Magical way to travel or head down to Rome, Bologna and Napoli.
10. Vienna — go to the Opera House & see where Mozart and Beethoven played. And the best chocolate in the world.

That’s me. What’s your fav city?

Jing Pro lets you make a high-definition video recording of what you see on your PC, which you can then email, Twitter, send to Facebook, Flickr, or YouTube. It’s brilliant. But, there’s a catch. There a free versions (which does most everything) and a premium version.

So, if the free version is so good, should you upgrade?

There are some limitation and restrictions on Jing Pro.

Jing  Pro Limitations

Here’s a few to start with.

Tip: Complete list of features is here.

1 It doesn’t let you edit proxy settings within the JING application. So, if you are behind a firewall or need to reconfigure on the road, it may get tricky.

2. You can’t use it as a standalone app without connecting to Screencast.com.

3. You need to be online as it’s web-based. Fine at work but not much good when you don’t have web access or if the web goes down.

4. When it does go down, you need to re-enter your username and password again. This became such a pain for me that I stopped using it and went back to SnagIt.

5. There is still a 5 minute limitation. So, if you’ve video is more than this, you’re out of luck.

Jing  Pro Advantages

The Pro version is fine if you don’t want to upgrade to Camtasia Studio but want an easy-to-use video-capturing software, for sharing videos on YouTube/Facebook.

Jing is very good at what it does and for $15 per year is not so expensive.

For light-weight users, the Free version should be fine. You can take nice screenshots, small videos and upload to Screencast.com which also offers 2 GB of storage space.

On the downside, the Free version support only SWF format while Jing Pro supports SWF ands MPEG-4 video, which is required for YouTube HD.

Should you buy the Pro version?

No.

Of all the limitations the 5 minute restriction is the biggest barrier. Actually, this is the main reason I have not signed up. If this was raised to 15 minutes, then yes, I’d signup. But 5 minutes is too short!

Simon makes this point on the blog: “In the above “94 Comments” 5 min is mentioned over 50 times … I think that you should listen to the user group and as I stated before: “drop the time limit on the Pro version and you will make conversions of people from free version to Pro version, and at the end of the day some $$$”

Matt adds “great job with the Jing project. The idea for allowing users to cut down videos to 5 minutes is a good alternative. The problem you may face is losing the beauty of simplicity that Jing offers and still leaves the 5 minute constraint.”

But the bottom line is that the 5 minute time limitation is a show-stopper.

Leonardos Bardelotto says that “5 min is bad, but they want to sell the Camtasia for bigger time and much more money.”

I agree.

This is the real limitation on this product. I‘ve flagged it on their site. Most others seem to agree and have encouraged them to make it free to get more market share.

There are so many free apps out there that charging for this – and the overheads that go with it – don’t seem to justify this decision.

But, it’s they’re product.

What do you think? Have you tried it yet?

PS: here is a quick list of the key features

• Screenshots directly to Snagit where you can edit the image.
• Publish it Screencast.com where you can store, file, organize and track the videos.
• Edit Jing created screencasts in Camtasia Studio. You can also combine multiple videos into a single video, or string several together with a table of contents.
• Create different Jing folders on Screencast.com, by topic/project/client.
• Adjust the video’s size to fit your blog or website.
• Centralize conversations and comments with the new commenting feature.
• Annotate captured images with arrows, callouts, text and highlights to add emphasis
• Narrate Jing-recorded screencast videos for even greater clarity before sharing
• Generate HTML code to so you can embed it on your blog or website
• Customize the sharing buttons so those they use most are only a click away.
• Screencasts are delivered in HD-quality video for the Web
• Jing logos and links are removed from the start and end of newly-recorded videos.
• Publish directly to YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler and MSN Video, Flickr
• Jing Pro produces MPEG-4 AVC video files for Flash delivery with H.264+AAC compression.

If you’re looking for free images for your website or blog, then check out Flickr’s new Creative Commons page.

Many Flickr users offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search through content under each type of license. Confused about the different CC licenses? Here is what the different Creative Commons licenses mean.

Attribution icon means:

You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they give you credit.

Noncommercial icon means:

You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.

No Derivative Works icon means:

You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.

Share Alike icon means:

You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

Which license is right for you?

The Flickr Creative Commons website has a wizard that helps you choose the license most appropriate to your needs.

You might like to read:

• A list of all 6 licenses and their explanations,
• The Creative Commons FAQ, or
• Information specifically for photographers & illustrators.

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

To be honest, I find all this a bit too much.

Do you think there should be one master CC license?

Would this simplify or complicate things?

What’s the fastest way to take a screenshot of a website, turn it into a thumbnail, and get it on your blog? How about if you could automate this?

Most of us hit print screen, take it into Snagit or PhotoShop, play with the size until it’s right and then save. Well, here’s a faster way.

Andy Wibbels was looking for API-based services that create thumbnails. He found PageGlimpse.

Instant Site Thumbnails for Your Blog with PageGlimpse

Here’s how to do it.

1. Get a PageGlimpse Developer Key.

2. Go to http://www.pageglimpse.com/signup and sign-up.

Once you activate your account you’ll get a developer key, i.e. random collection of letters and numbers.

3. Drag-and-drop the Create Thumbnail link to your Links toolbar in your browser.

NOTE: Don’t click it. Click-and-hold-and-drag-and-drop.

4. There is a Create Thumbnail is in your Links toolbar. Add your Developer Key to it.

5. Right-click on the Create Thumbnail link in your Links toolbar and select Properties.

The script will look something like this:

avascript:void((function(){location.href=location.href.replace(/^http\:\/\/([^\/\@]+)/,”http://images.pageglimpse.com/v1/thumbnails?devkey=YOUR-DEVELOPER-KEY&size=medium&url=”+”$1″);})())

6. Replace DEVELOPER-KEY-GOES-HERE with your PageGlimpse developer key and save.

7. Go to whatever site you want e.g. http://andywibbels.com/

8 Click on Create Thumbnail.

9. PageGlimpse will create a screen capture.

10. Save the image or Add it to a post.

Note: you can replace the size variable to small, medium or large.

This means that every time you take a screenshot with this tool, all the thumbnails will be the same size. No more time-wasting in Paint, Photoshop or whatever.

How it works behind the scenes

The PageGlimpse web service is a REST service, meaning that you can construct request URLs that will work in your code, in your browser or at the command line.

The REST access to the PageGlimpse service is simply an HTTP GET or POST request (RFC2616). The service parameters are passed as simple HTTP parameters.

All request URLs start with the host-name followed by the API version number and resemble the following code:

PageGlimpse http://images.pageglimpse.com/v1/

Andy Wilbbles: http://andywibbels.com/2009/07/instant-site-thumbnails-for-your-posts-using-pageglimpse/

If you know a better way to do this, please let me know. It takes about 5 min to get setup and then you’re flying. Let me know if you have any problems getting it working.

Do you want to update your blog every day?

Chris Brogan provides this framework for writing a blog post (almost) every day. He adds that while it’s not easy, once you develop the right habits, they stick with you. I’m writing quite regularly now, but it took me several years to get my groove down to a science.

Tips on How to Blog Every Day

1. Read something new every day. Try Alltop. (Hint: read something outside your particular circle to get new thoughts).
2. Talk with people every day. I get many of my topic ideas from questions people pose to me, or through conversations.
3. Write down titles and topic ideas in a notepad file. (I’ve given you 100 blog topics and another 20 blog topics just to get started.)
4. Maintain a healthy bookmarking and revisiting habit. Delicious.com
5. Find 20-40 minutes in every day to sit still and type.
6. Follow an easy framework. Here are 27 blogging secrets to start you on what I mean.
7. Get the post up fast, not perfect. You can edit if you have to, later. Perfectionism kills good habits.
8. Dissect other people’s posts to understand what makes them tick. The more you understand HOW they write, the more you can take the best parts of it into how you write. (hint, my 27 blogging secrets post gives you my patterns.)
9. Find useful and interesting pictures. I use Flickr photos licensed under Creative commons for most of my photos.
10. Think about what your customers and prospects need. I write from the perspective of the communities I serve. This focus takes some weight off my worries about what I should write about or not. I write about what my community needs.
11. My best advice about blogging.

How I Blog Every Day

I tend to use the inverted pyramid format when writing longer posts, i.e. as opposed to short snippets.
The “pyramid” is a triangle.

1. The top represents the most substantial, interesting, and important information you want to convey.

1. The middle section discusses the main points of your article, often as bullet points and

1. The tapered lower portion illustrates that other material should follow in order of diminishing importance.

Ken Blake, Ph.D. explains how it works on the Tennessee State University site: “Journalists use many different kinds of frameworks for organizing stories. Journalists may tell some stories chronologically. By far the simplest and most common story structure is one called the “inverted pyramid.”

http://mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11178/171/pyramid.htm and here on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid

Inverted Pyramids in Cyberspace

Jakob Nielsen adds that “On the Web, the inverted pyramid becomes even more important since we know from several user studies that users don’t scroll, so they will very frequently be left to read only the top part of an article. Very interested readers will scroll, and these few motivated souls will reach the foundation of the pyramid and get the full story in all its gory detail.”

References

Chris Brogan: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/how-to-blog-almost-every-day/

Chip Scanlan: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=38693

Jakob Nielsen http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9606.html

Having this model in mind helps me structure each article. I write a one sentence intro, break out the content in chunks, and then wrap up at the end with conclusion and/or questions.

Asking a question at the end can be a simple but effective way to encourage readers to post a comment.

What you think!

Ivan

You can now create galleries / slideshows of other people’s photos in Flickr by using the new Gallery tool. Whereas the Collection and Set features lets you organized your own photos, the gallery option lets you collect photos from other Flickr photo-streams.

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The idea is that you create a central theme, for example, Second Life, and then add any nice virtual world and Second Life photos to this gallery.

What is a gallery?

Galleries let you gather up to 18 public photos of your fellow Flickr members into one place. In general, it’s an opportunity to organize photographs around a theme, an idea or just because.

You can give each gallery a title, an introduction and include descriptions for the individual photos or videos to bring it all together.

How does a gallery different than favorites, sets and collections?

Sets and Collections are based on your photos and Favorites is an ongoing stream of images within the Flickrverse that you like.

Galleries let users curate their view of Flickr, to bring together up to 18 photos or videos. It lets you create a ‘shop window’ of sorts where you can show off the most interesting photos you’ve seen on Flickr, organized in logical groups, headings or themes.

How to make a gallery in Flickr

It’s very simple.

1. Find a photo that you want to add to your Gallery.

2. Click Add to gallery.

3. Create a new gallery or add the image to an existing one.

Create a new gallery window

Where is the “Add to gallery” icon?

The “Add to gallery” icon is available on “safe” photos.

If you’re looking at photos and don’t see the icon, it means the member has decided not to allow their content be available for galleries.

I’m trying to add a photo, but I don’t see the “Add to gallery” icon!

It’s usually because of permission option or because:

• Photo/video is not public.
• Photo/video is not “safe” (it’s either “moderate” or restricted”).
• Photo is NIPSEA (not in public site areas).
• Member who uploaded the photo is blocking you.
• Member who uploaded the photo has opted out of galleries.

Can I add my own photos to a gallery?

No.

The idea is to use other photos to jazz up your account.

How do I edit a gallery?

1. Click on the Galleries link, select the gallery you want to edit and make the adjustments.

2. You can change the title and description, move photos around using the thumbnails at the top, remove items, or add notes.

How do I change the featured photo for a gallery?

The featured photo is the default photo that is displayed for the gallery. To change this:

1. Open the gallery you want to change

2. Click on the image you want to move

3. Drag and drop the thumbnail from the right-hand side unto the featured image on the left-hand side.

Basically, you just drag the new image unto the older image you want to replace.

How do I know if my photo has been added to a gallery?

When someone adds one of your photos to their gallery, Flickr sends you an email letting you know.

Who’s using my images?

You can see how other Flickr members are using your photos in their galleries by checking the Galleries With Your Photos link in your Galleries page.

Tip: When a photo is added to a gallery, it is shown in your Recent Activity.

How do I remove my photo from a gallery?

If you don’t like how another Flickr member is using one of your photos in their gallery, just click the [x] next to your image in their gallery.

You can also click the “remove it” link when Flickr tells you about someone using your photo in Recent Activity.

Or change the preferences in your account. In this screenshot, you’d change the setting to No, thanks.

That stops everyone from using your photos.

Links

My Galleries http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/galleries/

Flickr FAQ http://www.flickr.com/galleries/

You can now link your Flickr account to Twitter, allowing you to send photos in real-time to this very powerful social media application. Before you start, you might want to read the tips on getting started over on the Flickr Twitter Beta site. It’s an easy read and you’re bound to pick up some nice tips there. So, how do I link my Flickr and Twitter accounts? Here’s how you do it.
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Step 1. Authorize posting to your Twitter account

You’ll need to authorize your Twitter account. Flickr doesn’t ask you for your Twitter username and password, but it does need to give Flickr permission to post to your Twitter account.

You can undo this as any time.

1. Go to www.flickr.com/account/blogs/add/twitter

2. Click the Head over to Twitter link.

This sends you to Twitter where you authorize the connection between the two apps.

If you aren’t already logged in you’ll be asked to do so. If you don’t have an account, then you need to setup an account, obviously.

Step 2. Click ‘Allow’ to give Flickr access to your Twitter account

Important: This step does not allow Flickr to go in and change your account settings or anything like that. It’s just allowing them to talk to each other and send messages from one system to the other.

1. Click Allow.

Step 3. Twitter sends you back to Flickr

Nothing for you to do here – except enjoy that nice warm feeling that something (for once) is working without a hitch.

Step 3. Ready to Go. You can now start Twittering from within Flickr

Actually, you have a few options here depending on how you want to do.

From Mobile Devices

Open up the address book in your mobile device and add your unique email+Twitter address. This is just your existing upload by email address with “2twitter” added.

From Flickr.com

Once you’ve authorized Flickr, you can Tweet photos either using the “Blog This” button, the API, or Uploaded by Email.

Via Email

When you upload via email, the subject line becomes your Twitter tweet, and a short URL to the photo is appended (added on).

Example Flickr Twitter

Here’s an example from Kellan’s Twitter account of what a post looks like: twitter.com/kellan/status/2062931580

A few other things

As they have added the Flickr URL, use 116 characters and not 140.

As it’s in Beta, they have yet to create FAQs, add this feature to your Account page and “Blog this” is available in English only (until launch).

Flickr/Twitter integration is still in BETA.

They’re always looking for feedback in the Flickr Twitter Beta group.

Link: http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrtwitterbeta/

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Over the next few weeks, I’m going to publish different tips on how to get the best from Flickr. Here is the first set. This shows you how to format your profile and your image descriptions. In other words, if you want to bold, italic, underline or even add hyperlinks to other sites, maybe different blogs you run or want to recommend.

To include a Flickr photo or video in your profile, copy and paste its URL between square brackets, for example:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/3620775571/]

To include a set icon, do this:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/sets/72157619952218624/]

To format any text you want to add in Flickr, for example, in your profile or when describing an image, you can use these HTML tags:

HTML Tag Attributes

<a href=”URL”>link</a> ‘href’, ‘target’, ‘rel’, ‘name’

<strong>strong</strong>

<b>bold</b>

<blockquote>

blockquote

</blockquote>

<em>emphasis</em>

<i>italic</i>

<img src=”URL”> ‘src’, ‘width’, ‘height’, ‘alt’, ‘title’

<u>underlined</u>

<s>strike</s>

<del>deleted</del>

If you know other ways to get the best from Flickr, please add them below.

Here is a nice way to surf through your Flickr photo stream.

This creates a slideshow (as shown below) on Flickr where you can go back and forwards through your photos instead of clicking on the small arrows next to the active image.

1. Select an image, for example:

2. Add surf to end of the url

So it’s now:

This changes the page to a slideshow.

3. Click Skip to go back or forward.

Nice, huh!

Facebook hosted a conference call on July 1 to introduce new privacy settings. It plans to offer new settings so you can share links, text, video and photographs with your friends, sub-set of their friends, or ‘everyone.’ At the moment, you can only share these with your friends.

The new changes will be rolled out over July.

Watch this quick presentation to learn some more.

via code.flickr.com

Flickr is releasing all of the Flickr shapefiles as a single download, available for use under the Creative Commons Zero Waiver. That’s fancy-talk for “public domain”.

The long version is:

To the extent possible under law, Flickr has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to the “Flickr Shapefiles Public Dataset, Version 1.0”.

This work is published from the United States. While you are under no obligation to do so, wherever possible it would be extra-super-duper-awesome if you would attribute flickr.com when using the dataset. Thanks!

Flickr is doing this for a few reasons.

1. We want people (developers, researchers and anyone else who wants to play) to find new and interesting ways to use the shapefiles and we recognize that, in many cases, this means having access to the entire dataset.

2. We want people to feel both comfortable and confident using this data in their projects and so we opted for a public domain license so no one would have to spend their time wondering about the issue of licensing. We also think the work that the Creative Commons crew is doing is valuable and important and so we chose to release the shapefiles under the CC0 waiver as a show of support.

3. We want people to create their own shapefiles and to share them so that other people (including us!) can find interesting ways to use them. We’re pretty sure there’s something to this “shapefile stuff” even if we can’t always put our finger on it so if publishing the dataset will encourage others to do the same then we’re happy to do so.

Posted via web from ivanwalsh’s posterous

Posted via web from ivanwalsh’s posterous

I’m thinking of updating the site and creating printer friendly pages. This seems like a good idea as we have lots of tutorials and such that people (like you!) might want to print out. So, how do you create printer friendly pages?

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‘Providing separate stylesheets for printing a web page was good idea in theory, but in practice it all falls down.’

The idea here is to involve server-side script (PHP and ASP based systems) which will reload the target page and replace regular CSS file with stylesheet especially suitable for printing an article, entry, post or whatever.

To make stylesheet for printing, decide what parts of your layout are not likely to be printed (like various banners, navigation etc.). The simplest way to hide them is to define them as display: none;. If you are not familiar with stylesheets for print read more about it. Anyway, keep it simple—black text on the white background, with a font-size: 12pt; is a good start. When you’re done with it, continue reading.

Maratz.com seems to have the best solution. Here’s how it works:

Setting up the Query

Now that we have all client-side ingredients in place, we can put it all together. First, we have to add a link somewhere around the article, for example:

<h1>Title of the article</h1>

<p>Lorem ipsum…</p>

<a href=”?q=printme”>printer friendly version</a>

It literally means we are requesting this same page, but with a query q=printme. To make our page recognizes what we are asking it, we have to add somewhere in the <head> section some logic, something like:

“If i’m asked to ‘printme’—i’ll load my printing stylesheet, and if i’m not asked anything—i’ll load my default CSS file.”

Depending of your preferences there are two scripts—PHP and ASP. Backup your HTML file and replace the part where you called your CSS file with one of the following examples.

PHP print script

<?php if ($_GET['q'] == “printme”) { ?>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”print.css” />

<?php } else { ?>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”default.css” />

<?php } ?>

ASP print script

<% If Request.QueryString(“q”) = “printme” Then %>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”print.css” />

<% Else %>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”default.css” />

<% End if %>

You can read the full article over here:

http://www.maratz.com/blog/archives/2004/09/21/10-minutes-to-printer-friendly-page/

PS – If you’ve found this article useful, please consider giving us a Digg or StumbleUpon.

Regards,

Ivan

Twitter: @ivanwalsh

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ivanwalsh

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh

Templates: http://www.klariti.com

Tips:  http://www.ivanwalsh.com

I’m thinking of updating the site and creating printer friendly pages. This seems like a good idea as we have lots of tutorials and such that people (like you!) might want to print out. So, how do you create printer friendly pages?

[ad#adc-2]

‘Providing separate stylesheets for printing a web page was good idea in theory, but in practice it all falls down.’

The idea here is to involve server-side script (PHP and ASP based systems) which will reload the target page and replace regular CSS file with stylesheet especially suitable for printing an article, entry, post or whatever.

To make stylesheet for printing, decide what parts of your layout are not likely to be printed (like various banners, navigation etc.). The simplest way to hide them is to define them as display: none;. If you are not familiar with stylesheets for print read more about it. Anyway, keep it simple—black text on the white background, with a font-size: 12pt; is a good start. When you’re done with it, continue reading.

Maratz.com seems to have the best solution. Here’s how it works:

Setting up the Query

Now that we have all client-side ingredients in place, we can put it all together. First, we have to add a link somewhere around the article, for example:

<h1>Title of the article</h1>

<p>Lorem ipsum…</p>

<a href=”?q=printme”>printer friendly version</a>

It literally means we are requesting this same page, but with a query q=printme. To make our page recognizes what we are asking it, we have to add somewhere in the <head> section some logic, something like:

“If i’m asked to ‘printme’—i’ll load my printing stylesheet, and if i’m not asked anything—i’ll load my default CSS file.”

Depending of your preferences there are two scripts—PHP and ASP. Backup your HTML file and replace the part where you called your CSS file with one of the following examples.

PHP print script

<?php if ($_GET['q'] == “printme”) { ?>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”print.css” />

<?php } else { ?>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”default.css” />

<?php } ?>

ASP print script

<% If Request.QueryString(“q”) = “printme” Then %>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”print.css” />

<% Else %>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”default.css” />

<% End if %>

You can read the full article over here:

http://www.maratz.com/blog/archives/2004/09/21/10-minutes-to-printer-friendly-page/

PS – If you’ve found this article useful, please consider giving us a Digg or StumbleUpon.

Regards,

Ivan

Twitter: @ivanwalsh

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ivanwalsh

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh

Templates: http://www.klariti.com

Tips:  http://www.ivanwalsh.com