How To Display Facebook Fan Count In Text

Adding a Facebook Like Button on your website or blog is perhaps one of the easiest and most effective way to get more fans and earn more likes. If you have hundreds, thousand or perhaps tens of thousand of fans, it might be a good idea to publish a fan count. Fan count displays in numeric text total fans your Facebook page has, or rather, how many have liked your page.

The technique is simple and very similar to displaying Google feedcount in text. The only difference is – we will be using Facebook’s API. In this post, we want to show you how it can be done so you can add them into yourWordPress blog or PHP powered website. Load up your favorite code editor, here we go.

Step 1 – Get API Key, Application Secret & Page ID

These are the three mandatory information you’ll need to get things started.

API Key and Application Secret

1. Sign in to your Facebook and click on Developer‘s link on the site bar. (If you don’t have a Developer’s account, you will have to sign up for one first)
   
2. Click "Set Up New Application". Enter any application name, agree to the Facebook terms and click"Create Application". Note: We are not going to create a real application, but we’ll need to go through these processes to get a API Key and Application Secret.
   

India’s cheapest Android tablet

Akash Ubislate, India’s cheapest Android tablet launched

The much anticipated $35 tablet has been officially launched by Union Ministry for Human Resource Development. The tablet is called Akash Ubislate and will be available to students at the subsidized price of $35 (approx Rs. 1720).

Weighing 350 grams, Akash tablet features a 7 inch resistive touchscreen diaplay, has 256 MB RAM, 2 GB internal storage, 32 GB expandable memory slot, two USB ports, Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g connectivity and 3.5 mm audio jack.

Akash Ubislate is powered by Android 2.2 OS and 366 Mhz. Connexant with Graphics accelerator and HD Video processor. Premium version of this tablet will also have inbuilt cellular modem (GSM/3G) and SIM card slot.

16 essential Android apps for IT pros

                                  16 essential Android apps for IT pros 
These apps can connect to servers, monitor systems, and scan networks, turning your Android device into an on-the-job dynamo

There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps, including many that are useful for IT professionals on the job. These apps can help connect to servers, monitor computers, access databases, analyze the airwaves, scan networks, and serve as a reference. Here are 16 of these apps, most of them free.

If you work with Unix-based servers or other network components that support SSH/Telnet connections, you can use this open source client to remotely connect. No need to get on the desktop or boot up your laptop. You can perform admin, maintenance, or troubleshooting tasks via command-line. Additionally, it supports local connections, so you can access the command-line of your Android.

mLearning and the Global Classroom

Adults and adolescents with Atopic Dermatitis in the USA, expectant mothers in Ghana, young teachers in Finland and pharmacists in Uganda all have one thing in common, they are part of the growing mobile learning community, or mLearning.  Educators use cell phones, PDAs, laptops, and other mobile devices to reach students who are mobile, are isolated, lack internet access, or have limited resources for travel but have a mobile phone.  mLearning in action.  When 90% of the world’s population has access to a mobile phone, according to the International Telecommunication Union, it is no surprise that educators have already realized the potential of mobile devices to enhance and extend the classroom.



Adults and adolescents with Atopic Dermatitis in the USA received information and medication reminders via text (or SMS) from Massachusetts General Hospital.  Throughout the study, 96% of the participants changed at least one behavior after receiving informational texts about self-care practices.  These patients are not alone in their improved health behavior due to educational texts.  In Kenya, patients undergoing Advanced Retroviral Therapy for HIV received text reminders about their dosage and appointments and had positive behavioral change related to their adherence to their treatment in a recent study.  Expectant mothers in Ghana received voice and text messages regarding self-care during pregnancy and the care of their children.  But sure, mobile phones can help adherence to medication regimens, improve information about healthcare and self-care and serve as reminders of appointments, but what about extending the more traditional classroom?

How to Make Your Internet Connection Faster, Better

OpenDNS to the Internet Connection Performance Rescue


Have you ever pointed your browser to a Web site and had to wait an inordinately long time for the page — or at least the full page — to load? This kind of slow browsing experience can be traced to a variety of causes, but among the most common are problems with the servers that are responsible for actually locating all the sites you visit, your DNS (Domain Name Service) servers.

 A free service called OpenDNS can not only help your browser display Web pages faster it also offers some useful fringe benefits such as address typo correction and phishing protection, plus site blocking, content filtering and more. Before we delve into how to use OpenDNS, let's briefly outline how the DNS system works for those who may not be familiar with it.

What's the Deal with DNS?

 Every time you type a Web site address like www.practicallynetworked.com into your browser, that "friendly" address needs to be translated into the actual IP address for the computer hosting that site. The job of the DNS server is to take the text address you type in, look it up against a database of IP addresses, and then return the correct address to your browser so that the site can be accessed.

Intel, Google team to optimize Android for smartphones

Intel and Google announced Tuesday that they would partner to optimize future versions of the Android OS for smartphones and other mobile devices using Intel chips.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini demonstrated a smartphone with the upcoming Medfield chip running on Android during a keynote at the Intel Developer Conference being held in San Francisco. However, Otellini didn't mention the version of Android running on the smartphone.

Intel wants to make x86 the architecture of choice for smartphones, and porting Android will provide a larger opportunity to the chip maker in the smartphone market, Otellini said.

"This is a significant step forward to bring Intel phones to market," Otellini said.

Intel doesn't have a presence in the smartphone market yet, but Otellini said a smartphone based on the chip would reach the market in the first quarter next year. Medfield includes a low-power Atom processor. A smartphone with the chip was due in the third quarter this year, but has been delayed multiple times. Intel also is holding a technical session at IDF to show Medfield running on tablets.

Intel and Google will work on optimizing "all" future Android releases for Intel mobile chips at the kernel level, and also in specific areas such as memory management and graphics, said Andy Rubin, senior vice president for mobile at Google, in an on-stage appearance.

Use Google Calendar to Organize Yourself

A personal assistant can perform time management tasks for you. But if you do not have one then there is nothing to worry about. You can easily have a solution by using Google Calendar on your Desktop.The need to organize is a part of human nature especially if you are at some important position in a company; even if that is not the case, there are many people around you who expect you to remember their birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other related stuff. With the pressure of work or studies, it is physically impossible for a person to keep track of so many dates. Many of you must have had the embarrassing experience of making a commitment with your wife or a close friend for dinner or shopping and then having to cancel it because of any important meeting that was scheduled weeks ago and that somehow slipped your mind.

The desktop Google calendar helps you organize yourself in a better way. It has a number of features other than just being a plan calendar which ensure smoothness in your day to day planning. The most important feature in this regard is that it connects to your Google calendar directly, so all you have to do is to update your online calendar while checking your emails. You can put in birthday reminders, events, meetings, appointments and wedding anniversaries reminders etc. in your calendar. You will get emails and reminders on your desktop about all the upcoming events. But there is a problem here; the Google calendar on your desktop is read only meaning that you cannot update it directly like a number of other desktop applications. The editing, deleting and adding of new events has to be done from Gmail calendar.CLICK here to Download

Technology in Environmental Education

In a world where we are frequently exposed to controversial high-tech headlines about self replicating miniature robots, attempts to download human brains into computers, and cars with night vision and heads up displays, (note) I am often asked what does technology have to offer environmental educators and their students? When it comes to technology, we are of two minds. We hate TV, but we have a favorite show. We hate deforestation, but we love beautiful wood-grain furniture. We hate electronic eavesdropping. But we love it when it's used to capture a fiendish criminal. Technology. We love to hate it. We hate to love it. (note.) In the next few pages, I will explore the philosophy and examples of how we try to embrace (if not love) Technology in our programs at IslandWood.

In a recent survey of environmental centers, Bethany Lesure found the most common reasons for integrating technology into educational programs are "audience demand", "State Ed. Requirement", a way to "Reach Out", and that "Kids Relate" to technology (Lesure, 2002). While these are very pragmatic reasons, I would argue that we need to be more deliberate in our choices � after all, isn't much of Environmental Education about considering the consequences of one's actions? (note.)

Integrating technology into our educational programs provides students with additional tools to enhance their learning. So you might wonder, "What are the benefits of taking this approach to help students explore and understand the world around them?"

Technology supports our efforts to appeal to different learning styles. With a variety of learning tools, students can understand their experiences through verbal, written, spatial, quantitative, and/or graphical means. As a result, many more students become engaged in the learning process.

Technology supports our multidisciplinary approach to learning. Integrating different disciplines helps students combine their mathematical, logical, scientific, linguistic, artistic, and social knowledge to make their lives and interactions with the world clearer.

iPhone 4 – Redefining Mobility in Education

This journal, Educational Technology and Change, is built in a WordPress web publishing environment. I hesitate to call it a “blog” because people tend to immediately close on it and can’t see that WordPress is no more a blog than the smartphone is a phone.

I’ve had my iPhone 4 for about two months, and it’s already changing my view of what it means to be connected. WordPress and iPhone, together, are redefining the publishing landscape for me. They’re not only placing publishing in the hands of the many, but they’re making it possible for them to do it from anywhere at anytime. It’s no longer a matter of waiting until I can get to a computer with web access. Instead, I have it with me at all times wherever I am, eliminating the waiting altogether.


I can now write an article using the built-in notes application and a Bluetooth wireless keyboard that I originally purchased for the iPad. In fact, I’m writing the first draft of this article on the iPhone. A couple months ago, I would’ve scoffed at the idea of composing on a screen the size of a credit card. Impossible, I would’ve sworn. But I’m doing it now, and I find it just as comfortable as my laptop or desktop.

But the clincher is mobility. The iPhone is tiny: 4.5″ x 2.3″ and less than half an inch (0.37″) thick; it weighs 4.8 ounces. It can easily fit in my shirt pocket, the backpocket of my jeans, etc. The most comfortable method for me is a little leather case that hooks onto my belt. I can quickly hook and unhook it, slide it to the front, side, or back, depending on the activity. It’s as much a part of me as a belt, and it doesn’t restrict my activities.

It charges quickly and goes for hours without recharging. The spec sheet claims up to 10 hours on wi-fi, but some have found that this is very conservative. For me, it’s never run down despite constant use throughout the day. I simply plug it in overnight, and it’s good for an entire day.

I no longer have to lug a backpack holding a notebook computer, an extra battery, an AC adaptor with a tangle of cables, and a wireless USB modem. The batteries were always a hassle. I had to make sure they were both juiced, and over time they’ve lost their capacity to hold a charge. Now, I can barely get an hour out of each, and replacements are expensive and often unreliable.
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