The list of nominees is again quite interesting, so choose your favorite.
This months winner was 0 A.D. by the way... I guess we need to increase the promotion efforts a bit in case you weren't aware...
Monday, 27 January 2014
Linux Game Awards: PotM March 2014 VOTE NOW!
It's time for another installment of the somewhat bi-monthly Linux Game Awards:
The list of nominees is again quite interesting, so choose your favorite.
This months winner was 0 A.D. by the way... I guess we need to increase the promotion efforts a bit in case you weren't aware...
The list of nominees is again quite interesting, so choose your favorite.
This months winner was 0 A.D. by the way... I guess we need to increase the promotion efforts a bit in case you weren't aware...
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Preparing for a crowd-funding: Torque3D MIT Multi-platform
I mentioned the nice developments on the Torque3D OpenGL and Linux ports a few weeks back, and now it seems like it is getting even more serious:
Now don't spill your beer just yet, as this is just the proposal the developer makes for a crowd-funding building up on his great previous Linux/OpenGL work.
One of the first (hopefully soon to be) FOSS games that could benefit from this, is the currently also looking for crowd-funding RoTC abstract FPS. Only 9 days left, but they made another good increase in the last couple of days, so it is still possible to reach their goal of $1500. In fact the older (mostly closed source) version was also recently updated and you can try it on some new servers.
The (more or less friendly) fork GREED tech MIT that aims to make a full FPS development kit out of Torque3D also seems to make some interesting progress, so it looks quite bright development wise for now :)
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| Planned platforms of Torque3D |
Now don't spill your beer just yet, as this is just the proposal the developer makes for a crowd-funding building up on his great previous Linux/OpenGL work.
One of the first (hopefully soon to be) FOSS games that could benefit from this, is the currently also looking for crowd-funding RoTC abstract FPS. Only 9 days left, but they made another good increase in the last couple of days, so it is still possible to reach their goal of $1500. In fact the older (mostly closed source) version was also recently updated and you can try it on some new servers.
The (more or less friendly) fork GREED tech MIT that aims to make a full FPS development kit out of Torque3D also seems to make some interesting progress, so it looks quite bright development wise for now :)
AdSense Direct: A new way to sell direct advertising on your blog
This article introduces AdSense Direct, a new way to use AdSense to manage advertising that you directly sell ads on your blog or website - and to fill those spaces with AdSense ads when there are no Direct ads running.
AdSense have announced a new feature called AdSense Direct, which will let AdSense publishers (ie people showing ads on their blogs or websites) manage directly-sold ads using their AdSense account.
"Management" means that after an advertisement and campaign details are set up and approved, the ads will show on your site without any changes to your site (apart from having AdSense ads in on it), and having all contracts, invoicing and payments handled through your AdSense account.
After this, the ad runs during the time period that you set up for it. And after it has finished, regular AdSense ads are shown instead.
There's no statement about how this works with AdSense's limits on the number of AdSense ad units shown: does an "AdSense Direct" ad count towards the three-per-type-per-page that non-premium AdSense advertisers are limited to? My guess is "yes" - because regular AdSense ads are shown if AdSenseDirect ones aren't available.
Possibly you can only have one direct advertising campaign at a time? Google's announcement also says "If you've already expanded to running multiple direct ad deals and ad networks on your pages alongside AdSense, try our ad serving solution DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP)." - and yes, AdSense Direct does seem to be a vastly simplified version of this, which will benefit Google by signing up more advertisers.
And AdSense-Direct will only work in places where you can put an AdSense ad unit. For example it is possible to put ads right inside blog-posts. But regular AdSense ads need Javascript to work, so people who read your blog by email subscription or RSS don't see them. It's likely that AdSense Direct ads will be the same.
I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure that the standard AdSense rules will apply. And this will mean that if your advertiser ticks any of Google's categroy boxes, their AdSense-served ad will not appear on your blog if you have blocked that category.
AdSense Direct is probably not available for Blogspot domains, or at least not for ones whose owner signed up for AdSense using the easier AdSense setups for hosted publishers.
I'm still looking for information about Google's charge or margin for using Direct. For regular AdSense (for non-premium publishers, anyway), its 42%, ie they pay out 58%. I guess it will be a lot lower - but still significant, as Google are providing tools to do some of the most troublesome bits of direct advertisign for us.
My (possibly hopeful!) guess is 20%. What's yours?
Easier AdSense setups for hosted publishers
Other advertising options for your blog
How to show an AdSense ad inside a blogger post
"Management" means that after an advertisement and campaign details are set up and approved, the ads will show on your site without any changes to your site (apart from having AdSense ads in on it), and having all contracts, invoicing and payments handled through your AdSense account.
How to use AdSense Direct
- Arrange a direct deal with an advertiser -- this can be any advertiser, even one that doesn't currently use AdWords.
- Enter the details into your AdSense account; more details about this here.
- You will be given a link which you email (etc) to the advertiser.
- The advertiser logs in (possibly after creating a Google account), upload their ad "creative" (ie text and pictures), approve the terms you entered, and pays for the deal with Google Wallet.
- You - and Google - approve the ad creative (ie words and pictures).
After this, the ad runs during the time period that you set up for it. And after it has finished, regular AdSense ads are shown instead.
Limitations
Bad news for now:AdSense Direct is currently available to publishers and advertisers located in the U.S., and we hope to expand further in the coming months.But my fingers are crossed that this will change soon.
There's no statement about how this works with AdSense's limits on the number of AdSense ad units shown: does an "AdSense Direct" ad count towards the three-per-type-per-page that non-premium AdSense advertisers are limited to? My guess is "yes" - because regular AdSense ads are shown if AdSenseDirect ones aren't available.
Possibly you can only have one direct advertising campaign at a time? Google's announcement also says "If you've already expanded to running multiple direct ad deals and ad networks on your pages alongside AdSense, try our ad serving solution DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP)." - and yes, AdSense Direct does seem to be a vastly simplified version of this, which will benefit Google by signing up more advertisers.
And AdSense-Direct will only work in places where you can put an AdSense ad unit. For example it is possible to put ads right inside blog-posts. But regular AdSense ads need Javascript to work, so people who read your blog by email subscription or RSS don't see them. It's likely that AdSense Direct ads will be the same.
I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure that the standard AdSense rules will apply. And this will mean that if your advertiser ticks any of Google's categroy boxes, their AdSense-served ad will not appear on your blog if you have blocked that category.
AdSense Direct is probably not available for Blogspot domains, or at least not for ones whose owner signed up for AdSense using the easier AdSense setups for hosted publishers.
Costs?
The $64m question!I'm still looking for information about Google's charge or margin for using Direct. For regular AdSense (for non-premium publishers, anyway), its 42%, ie they pay out 58%. I guess it will be a lot lower - but still significant, as Google are providing tools to do some of the most troublesome bits of direct advertisign for us.
My (possibly hopeful!) guess is 20%. What's yours?
Related Articles:
Setting up AdSense for your blogEasier AdSense setups for hosted publishers
Other advertising options for your blog
How to show an AdSense ad inside a blogger post
Monday, 20 January 2014
Putting a picture on your blog as a Gadget
You can put a picture anywhere in your Blogger blog that you can insert a gadget - and you can make it link to a post in your blog or to any other website.
A very simple way to put a picture into your blog is to use an Image gadget (previously called a Picture gadget).
This is a tool that Blogger provides to make is easy to add a picture that shows up on all screen and is linked to somewhere.
Often gadgets (sometimes called widgets or page elements) are put on the sidebar - but in many blogger templates they can go in other places too (header, footer, etc).
2 Copy the location (URL or file system full path-name) of the picture - and remember whether it's on your computer, or on the internet.
(This article tells you how to find the URL of a picture that's already stored in Google Album Archive. )
3 In Blogger, follow the usual Add a Gadget procedure, and choose the Image gadget from the list of options (you may have to scroll down to find it in the list).
4 In the Configure-Image box, enter the options you want for your picture. These include:
5 Press Save.
6 If necessary, drag-and-drop the new gadget to the place where you want the picture to go, and press Save.
Copyright, blogs and bloggers
Picasa and Blogger - an overview
Getting the HTML to add a picture to your blog
Finding a picture's URL in Google Album Archive
Finding the URL of a picture stored in Flickr
Showing a PowerPoint presentation in your blog
Why RSS / Subscribe to Posts is important for bloggers
Following a blog by email
The Image gadget
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| Dry dock in Claddagh Basin |
This is a tool that Blogger provides to make is easy to add a picture that shows up on all screen and is linked to somewhere.
Often gadgets (sometimes called widgets or page elements) are put on the sidebar - but in many blogger templates they can go in other places too (header, footer, etc).
Follow these steps to add a picture gadget in Blogger
1 Make sure you know where the original picture is and that you have copyright permission to use it.2 Copy the location (URL or file system full path-name) of the picture - and remember whether it's on your computer, or on the internet.
(This article tells you how to find the URL of a picture that's already stored in Google Album Archive. )
3 In Blogger, follow the usual Add a Gadget procedure, and choose the Image gadget from the list of options (you may have to scroll down to find it in the list).
4 In the Configure-Image box, enter the options you want for your picture. These include:
- The title for the Gadget,
- The caption for the picture
(the small words that go underneath it, usually explaining it, or where it came from), - What should happen when a reader clicks the picture - put this into the Link field
- Where to find the picture
(ie the file-location that you copied in step 2) - Whether to re-size (ie shrink) the picture to fix the space in the sidebar in your current template.
5 Press Save.
6 If necessary, drag-and-drop the new gadget to the place where you want the picture to go, and press Save.
What your visitors see
People who visit your blog in a web-browser, will see the picture, in the place where you put the gadget. However pictures are not supported gadgets for dynamic view templates, so it won't be see if you use one of these.
Also, people who see your blog through an RSS reader, or by receiving emailed updates don't see any gadgets, so they will not see the picture.
If you entered a value for Link, your visitor's browser leaves your blog and goes to the Link location: with the Picture gadget, then there is no way to make this open a new window. If you want to do so, then use an HTML gadget instead, get the code for the picture, and put target = "_blank" into it:, so the code looks something like:
Also, people who see your blog through an RSS reader, or by receiving emailed updates don't see any gadgets, so they will not see the picture.
If you entered a value for Link, your visitor's browser leaves your blog and goes to the Link location: with the Picture gadget, then there is no way to make this open a new window. If you want to do so, then use an HTML gadget instead, get the code for the picture, and put target = "_blank" into it:, so the code looks something like:
<a href="YOUR LINK" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target = "_blank"><img border="0" src="YOUR PICTURE LOCATION" /></a>
Related Articles
Options for putting pictures into your blogCopyright, blogs and bloggers
Picasa and Blogger - an overview
Getting the HTML to add a picture to your blog
Finding a picture's URL in Google Album Archive
Finding the URL of a picture stored in Flickr
Showing a PowerPoint presentation in your blog
Why RSS / Subscribe to Posts is important for bloggers
Following a blog by email
Add a Cool Style to Blogger Threaded/Nested Comments
If you need a fresh style to the threaded comments of a standard Blogger template, here's a simple CSS that will help you to apply a different background, make your avatars rounded, add a border with rounded corners and a triangle which is actually an HTML entity to get that speech bubble look on your comments.
You can see a demo here.
To have this style in your comments, all you need to do is to paste the below code inside the CSS part of the template, which is between the <b:skin> and </b:skin> tags.
Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the search box:
Step 3. Paste or type the following tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it
Step 5. Finally, click on the "Save template" button... and you're done!
You can see a demo here.
To have this style in your comments, all you need to do is to paste the below code inside the CSS part of the template, which is between the <b:skin> and </b:skin> tags.
Styling Simple Nested Comments with CSS
Step 1. From the Blogger Dashboard, go to "Template" and press the "Edit HTML" buttonStep 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the search box:
Step 3. Paste or type the following tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it
]]></b:skin>Step 4. Just above ]]></b:skin> add this CSS:
.comments .comment-block {
background: #F9F9F9;
color: #555;
box-shadow: 0 4px 10px #EEEEEE;
position: relative;
margin-top: 10px;
margin-left: 60px;
padding: 10px;
border: 4px solid #EEEEEE !important;
border-radius:10px;
font: 1.190em/1.2 Cambria,Georgia,sans-serif;
}
.comment-thread li .comment-block:before {
position: absolute;
display: block;
left: -26px;
color: #EEEEEE;
content: "\25C4";
font-size: 30px;
}
.comments .avatar-image-container {
width: 60px;
height: 60px;
max-height: 60px;
margin:0px 0px 0 -28px;
padding: 0px;
border: 7px solid #EEEEEE;
border-radius:60px;
}
.comments .avatar-image-container img {
overflow:hidden;
width: 60px;
height: 60px;
max-width: 60px;
border:0 !important;
border-radius:60px;
}
.comments .comment-thread.inline-thread {
background: none;
}
.comments .continue {
border-top: 0px solid transparent;
}
.comments .comments-content .datetime {
float: right;
font-size: 11px;
}
.comments .comments-content .user a{
font-size: 15px;
color: #498EC9;
}
.comments .comments-content .datetime a:hover{
color: #777;
text-decoration: none;
}
.comments .comments-content .comment:first-child {
padding-top: 0px;
}
.comments .comments-content .comment {
margin-bottom: 0px;
padding-bottom: 0px;
}
.comments .continue a {
padding: 0px;
}
.comments .comments-content .icon.blog-author {
background-image: none;
}
How to Change Blogger Threaded Comments Background, Border and Colors
- replace the #F9F9F9 value to change the background color of the comments;
- #555 to change the text comments color;
- #EEEEEE to change the color of the shadow around comments;
- 4px solid #EEEEEE to change the border width (4px), style (solid) and color (#EEEEEE) around comments;
- 1.190em to change the comments font size;
- to change the arrow color, replace the #EEEEEE value from color: #EEEEEE;
- to change the border width (7px), style (solid) and color (#EEEEEE) around avatars, modify this part: 7px solid #EEEEEE;
- to change the avatars size and roundness, change the 60px value;
Step 5. Finally, click on the "Save template" button... and you're done!
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