Getting Traffic to Blogger Blogs

One problem that I've been having is getting traffic to my blogs. Someone alerted me to some blog posts that might have a solution to the traffic problem I'm facing, so I wanted to go over the ways that this blog suggested to get traffic.

Notes on cheap targeted traffic: buying traffic from other websites. Caveat: use Google’s Ad planner (or Quantcast.com) to get some demographic data on a site before deciding to advertise.

Buysellads.com - Large inventory of sites to place your ads. Pay attention to what banner ads are showing up on the sites as a starting point for making your own.

BlogAds - a network of over 3,000 influential blogs connects advertisers with readers and the social media elite. Interesting that they mention social media in their outreach.

AdSella - Ad buyers can choose from a variety of blogs and websites to buy ad space and increase traffic. Some of the publisher sites listed weren't even functional, so make sure you do your due diligence here.

Advertise Space - Gives publishers the power to set rates and reject any ad creative that is not appropriate for their site. Site has an unfinished feel to it, so I think they are just starting out.

Project Wonderful - This looks like a network of mostly comic and gaming blogs, but there are also a few other niche websites in their network. You can reach InsaneJournal.com readers through ProjectWonderful, as well as people in Boston looking up schedules for the underground T trains.

Blog Banner Ads: this blog post details the buysellads.com marketplace. That's potentially a really good site - advertising on a site is possible for for less than $10 a month.

SEOClerks vs. Fiverr - I confess that I usually go to Fiverr for one-off SEO tasks, but this blog post makes a great point: charging five dollars for a quality SEO task is a false economy. The better SEO services on Fiverr should be allowed to charge more for a better service, which is exactly what you get at SEOClerks. It's also nice that SEOClerks.com just focuses on SEO tasks. Some examples include:

• http://www.seoclerks.com/Other/62505/gives-blogroll-PR2-4-and-PR3-3-on-my-site-about-health
• http://www.seoclerks.com/youtube/58327/Manually-Embed-and-Share-your-YouTube-video-in-75-blog-Posts-with-Content

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2013/03/getting-traffic-to-blogger-blogs.html

"your nook has turned off to conserve power" fix

If your 1st Generation Classic Barnes & Noble Nook is unresponsive and only has "your nook has turned off to conserve power" on its screen, there's a simple fix for that. Plug the Nook in and allow it to charge, preferably for 3 or more hours, before you try to start it up again. When the yellow charging light goes off, that means your battery is at 100% charge again.

To Prevent Battery Drainage on Your Nook Classic in the Future

If you want to prevent your Nook from running out of power too soon, there are some steps you can take to prolong its battery life:

1. Turn the Airplane Mode ON. This turns off Wi-Fi and 3G and will help prolong your Nook's battery life.
2. Turn the Touchscreen brightness down. If you're at 25% - 35% screen brightness, try dialing it down to the 5 - 10% range.
3. Change the Touchscreen turn-off timer from 30 seconds down to 10 seconds
4. Change the Sleep timer to 5-10 minutes (down from 15 minutes).

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2013/02/your-nook-has-turned-off-to-conserve.html

Best Travel Apps for the Kindle Fire

Kayak for the Kindle Fire HD

Kindle owners can use the Kayak app to search for flight, hotel, and car rental availability as well as pricing. The app allows comparing the rates of each provider to insure they are getting the best deal. Hotel accommodations and flights can be booked directly from the app. Once a trip is booked through the app, users can receive notification of cancellations, delays, and gate changes. This makes late gate arrivals a thing of the past. Users can also access airport maps and locate airport restaurants and restrooms. The app also has extensive access maps of ATMs and restaurants. The general consensus on Amazon is that this is a better app than Tripit. Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/KAYAK-Software-Corporation/dp/B004JJUY4K/

Trip Advisor for Kindle

The Trip Advisor app allows users to search for hotels, flights, restaurants, shopping as well as sightseeing opportunities in whatever city they’re in. Users can also see recommendations relative to their current location. Trip Advisor also includes restaurant reviews with menus and information on pricing and ambience. The app aggregates reviews across users, so it’s a great opportunity to also contribute your own reviews to hotels and restaurants. If you're visiting a city, you can find out about the best attractions and restaurants. You can also try the convenient "Near Me Now" button to see hotels, restaurants, and activities near you right now. The app includes the user forums and the "Find a Cheap Flight" feature. The Kindle Fire version of Trip Advisor has gotten rave reviews and looks great on the tablet:

Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/TripAdvisor/dp/B005LHOKFS/

MyTopo Maps Pro by Trimble Outdoors

If you’re an outdoor explorer type, then supplement your GPS, compass and paper maps with the topographical maps produced by the MyTopo app. The MyTopo app delivers access to over 70,000 topographical maps in the USA and Canada, which is perfect for hikers, climbers, campers, boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts. It also yes that's too bad provides information for finding over ten millions of trails, lakes, valleys, mountains and rivers. The app has five different views to select from, including road, airborne, hybrid, topographical, and terrain vantage POVs. You can even store maps in the app so you don't need Wi-Fi in order to use it. Great for preplanning hiking trails, camping and ATV offroad trips. The topographical map app is optimized for the Kindle Fire:

Cost of the app is $4.99 and can be downloaded at http://www.amazon.com/MyTopo-Maps-Pro-Trimble-Outdoors/dp/B0080G64TM/

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2013/02/best-travel-apps-for-kindle-fire.html

Best Real Estate Apps for Kindle Fire

Zillow Real Estate - Homes & Apartments, For Sale or Rent

Hunting for a home or apartment doesn’t necessarily mean highlighting classified ads and making numerous phone calls. The Zillow App for Kindle features up-to-date home pricing data, integrated maps that allow for filtering different property types and reports on trending neighborhoods. Drive through any neighborhood and pull up the Zillow Real Estate app to get housing information filtered by price, proximity to schools and sales closing status.

Get a Zestimate value of any U.S. home so you can better place a competitive bid. The app also comes with a voice search to dictate locations to the app. The app features high resolution photos, and each searched location can be saved for future reference. Instead of writing down an address, let the Zillow app give you driving directions with Google Maps. Instead of taking down a realtor's phone number, Contact real estate agents and property managers directly from the app. Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Zillow-Real-Estate-Homes-Apartments/dp/B004GWRMWC/

HotPads

Hotpads give you a glance at the properties available for rent in the area of your choice, and you can easily customize the search to meet your requirements. The app features

• Map-based housing search interface
• Search apartments, rental houses, and real estate
• See detailed listings with high resolution photos
• Quickly scroll through photos while still seeing listing details
• Advanced filtering options help you narrow your search

Download app at http://www.amazon.com/HotPads-com-HotPads/product-reviews/B006ZZERJ4/

Apartments by Apartment Guide

The Apartments app for Kindle provides listings of available apartments nationwide, delivering results through customized searches, and even includes pictures! The user taps in their requirements (location, size of apartment, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage) and the app will give you back pinpointed results. Result listings include price, landlord contact information, lease terms, as well as a general description of the apartment complex. The app is simple to use and features full maps of apartments in whatever area you are looking in. Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Primedia-Apartments-by-Apartment-Guide/dp/B006OP04ZQ/

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2013/02/best-real-estate-apps-for-kindle-fire.html

Apps that Use the Front-Facing Camera on the Kindle Fire

Did you know that there is a built-in, front-facing camera on your Kindle Fire HD? After taking some photos, you might want to edit, add effects and even share your creatively altered photos on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Here are some of the best photo editing apps for the Kindle Fire HD.

PicShop Lite - Photo Editor

This app is very useful for editing photos on the Kindle Fire HD and has support for HD images up to 8 megapixels. The editing features included with this app include filters (hue/saturation, RedEye and Blemish Removers, Auto Correction) Crop, Rotate and Flip, and more. It’s actually a full editing suite that works great on the Kindle HD. And it’s free. This app also allows you to share images on Facebook, Twitter, or via Email with a simple click. Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/esDot-Development-Studio-PicShop-Lite/dp/B007FFZSE6/

Camera Fun Pro by SpiceLoop

The Camera Fun Pro lets you apply a variety of unique camera lenses to your Kindle Fire HD photos after you have taken them. This app will make pictures fun again, especially if you like using filters.

1. 29 special effects and lenses to apply to your photos: Sepia, X-Ray, Night Vision, Sketch, Water Color, Canvas, Swirl, Stretch, Tunnel, Thermal, Neon, and Mirror.
2. Place frames around your pictures.
3. You can then share your photo with others via Facebook or email.

Cost of the app is $.99 and it can be downloaded at http://www.amazon.com/SpiceLoop-Camera-Fun-Pro/dp/B004JOXGPO/

Pic Collage

After you get all your photos into your Kindle, how about manipulating those photos of your friends and gatherings in a unique and artistic way? Pic Collage allows you to input photos from your picture library and resize, rotate, combine them and otherwise manipulate them. You can

1. add popular filters
2. add some text in various colors
3. rotate photos with two fingers
4. create collages and draw on your photos
5. post your creations to social media networks

Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/PicCollage-Pic-Collage/dp/B00A6S051A/

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2013/02/apps-that-use-front-facing-camera-on.html

GPS & Map Apps for the Kindle Fire HD

MapQuest for Kindle Fire

MapQuest is a navigational app that offers its users turn by turn directions to any location. Voice guided instructions help users navigate anywhere. If you're driving, then you can use voice requests to get directions from the app. The app also broadcasts live traffic updates and crash reports. Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/MapQuest-Inc/dp/B004TI2ZXY/

Compass photo by Steve Snodgrass (Flickr)

HopStop for Kindle HD

HopStop gives you thorough info on anything related to public transportation. If you're traveling, it can help you feel like less of a tourist by getting you to the nearest transit station. It can provide you with transit maps (subways, trains and buses) as well as the upcoming schedules for each of the routes. HopStop is ideally suited for travelers and can give you taxi phone numbers as well. It can also tell you the best route to take on foot. The app works for cities in the USA, Canada, and Europe. The app polls hundreds of dynamic schedules for trains, buses, subways, ferries and more. Because it’s dynamic, it can give you estimated wait times for various transit options. Download this app for free at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/HopStop-com-Inc-HopStop/dp/B005CDK5IM/

Compass App for Kindle Fire

For those who would like to find their own way in the world, and would prefer to defer to a Compass, instead of turn by turn GPS instructions, the Compass+ Flash app is the perfect combination of old school guidance, and new school technology. The app comprises six different compasses, including nighttime, antique and more traditional styles. The integration of the GPS allows for exact measurements in elevation, place, and pitch and roll. The app can be readily calibrated and adjusted, and allows for notes on favored places and locations. Cost of the app is $.99 and can be downloaded at: http://www.amazon.com/SaintTech-Compass-Flash/dp/B009Y6OFDO/

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2013/02/gps-map-apps-for-kindle-fire-hd.html